FARC Leader to Launch Presidential Campaign on Jan. 27

Rodrigo Londoño, aka "Timochenko," the presidential candidate for Colombia's Revolutionary Alternative Forces of the Commons, is launching his campaign on Jan. 27 and will discuss the last details with his party this weekend when he is due to return to his homeland.

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Timochenko Vice-President candidate Imelda Daza made the announcement in an interview with BLU Radio, saying they planned to talk about “national issues, concerns over the campaign, communication, how we will share responsibilities, which regions we will make our priority.”

She added that many obstacles remained for the effective participation of the FARC in regional politics, recalling the death threats sent earlier this week by paramilitary groups in the province of Valle del Cauca.

On Wednesday, the party condemned the assassination of two more members in the town of Peque, in the north-eastern province of Antioquia the night before.

The bodies of Wilmar Asprilla and Ángel de Jesús Montoya were found about 11 p.m. by police officers, shortly after they were meeting with the local community and preparing the campaign for the legislative elections.

With Timochenko at its head, the FARC faces many obstacles as it attempts to transform from a guerrilla group into a political party, with members pointing to the lack of will shown by the administration of Juan Manuel Santos to carry out true peace as social leaders and FARC members continue to be targeted by paramilitary forces and the Colombian military.

However, the former guerrilla leader said he would uphold his commitment to peace and signaled he would work closely with the two commissions set up in order to re-structure the party.

In September, Timochenko wrote an open letter stating that the Colombian government has spared no effort to push forth legislative reforms necessary for the peace deal's implementation as well as “serious institutional mutilations” which effectively shield paramilitaries from being investigated and rooted out.

The killings of social movement leaders and people's representatives have continued unabated on a near-daily basis, he noted, while the Colombian National Police mobile riot squad, or ESMAD, continues to repress poor communities.

In addition, since the peace accords were signed, paramilitaries have sought to gain control of strategic areas abandoned by the FARC. "The reconciliation we dreamed of is being stranded, pushed down by those committed to denying us a space in Colombia,” he wrote.