Colombian rebels at peace talks in Havana said today they will wait for a second round of presidential voting back home before weighing how the outcome of the hotly contested election may affect the negotiations.
Speaking to reporters in the Cuban capital, Ivan Marquez, a top leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, declined to respond to threats by the top vote-getter, Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, that he would end talks unless the FARC declares a permanent cease-fire.
"He should wait until the second round takes place," said Marquez, who was born Luciano Marin Arango. "We have the impression that he is putting the cart before the horse, so there is no sense in responding to this gentleman from Havana."
The first round of voting took place Sunday in Colombia. Zuluaga, who yesterday referred to the FARC as "criminals," is headed to a June 15 runoff with the second-place finisher and incumbent President Juan Manuel Santos, under whose administration the peace talks began in late 2012.
The FARC's military commander, Rodrigo Londono alias Timochenko, said in a defiant video shot in an undisclosed jungle location and released on the Internet that the rebels have not been defeated militarily and will not accept a "humiliating surrender" at the Havana talks.
