Colombia's FARC rebel group said today it had fulfilled its 30-day unilateral ceasefire, squashing speculation it would prolong the suspension of hostilities until after upcoming elections.
The one-month truce for the end-of-year holiday season lasted from December 15 to midnight last day.
"The final moment of the unilateral ceasefire has arrived" said Pablo Catabumbo, one of the guerrilla delegates in peace talks with the Colombian government in Havana.
"Some sources have been speculating that the FARC had decided to prolong the ceasefire until elections," which will be held in March for the legislature and May for the presidency, Catabumbo said, but he said that was not the case.
Yesterday marked the end of the FARC's second unilateral ceasefire during the course of the talks. The Colombian government both times rejected suspending hostilities on their end while negotiating an end to the half-century armed conflict, Latin America's longest-running.
The government of President Juan Manuel Santos said that during previous attempts at negotiating peace, the FARC used bilateral ceasefires to reinforce its military.
