Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos today provided new details about the renewed peace talks between the government and leftist guerilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Santos confirmed that the peace talks would formally begin in Oslo, Norway, in October. The two sides have been conducting discreet negotiations in Havana since May, under the auspices of the Cuban, Venezuelan, and Norwegian governments.

“Today, I want to announce that the meetings have led to an accord that establishes a road map to end once and for all the violence between children of the same country,” said Santos, in a televised speech to the nation.

“We are convinced that there is a real opportunity to end the armed internal conflict,” said Santos. However, the president added that “this agreement does not mean we have reached peace yet, or that it is final.”

Several previous attempts to reach a peaceful end to the conflict stretching back to 1964 have failed, with some accusing FARC of exploiting government gestures of demilitarisation in the late 1990s to consolidate its own position.

Santos said that his administration would not repeat the mistakes of the past, and today confirmed that military operations against the guerilla group would continue even as the peace talks get underway.

The president’s speech comes a day after FARC released a video in which its leader Rodrigo Londono, confirmed that the rebel group would attend the negotiations “without rancour or arrogance.”

The FARC leader, nicknamed ‘Timochenko’, claimed he is seeking a “democratic, just, and lasting peace.”

According to Colombian national El Tiempo, the peace talks will focus on five main areas: rural development, guarantees over the right to exercise political opposition, the laying down of arms, drug trafficking, and the rights of the victims of the internal conflict.

After nearly half a century of conflict, the Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos and the left-wing guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), signed an agreement to initiate peace talks in Havana, Cuba.

The peace talks will formally begin in October in the Norwegian capital of Oslo, before delegates will return to Havana to sit down and negotiate “with the aim of not leaving the table until a peace accord has been signed which will put an end to the nearly 50 years of conflict”, said Jorge Enrique Botero, of TeleSUR.

Botero confirmed that the peace process had begun in May when secret conversations began in Havana, coordinated by the governments of Venezuela, Cuba and Norway.

The conflict began in 1964, when FARC, a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organisation picked up arms against the government of the time. The organisation has forces numbering around 18,000. The on-going conflict has led to the displacement of over two million Colombians, one of the highest rates of internally displaced people in the world.

On Thursday in southwestern Colombia, explosives that were allegedly placed by FARC around an electricity structure were detonated, killing five and leaving six injured. The explosions also knocked down three transformer towers in the Nariño department.

Earlier Thursday morning, a suspected bomb was also detonated in the Cauca region of the southwest department, damaging the power station and surrounding houses. For this incident, there are no reported fatalities and the electricity in the area was not affected.

Both these attacks happened after last week’s alleged FARC landmines killed three electricity workers while they were doing tower repairs in the town of Tumaco. Since this attack, the town and surrounding area have been without electricity or water for six days as workers fear entering the area.

These are examples of a string of ongoing attacks throughout this particular region between the rebel group, the military, and locals. The FARC have been suspected of placing landmines within the area and around energy towers. When workers enter to fix blasted towers, the landmines become detonated. Whether the workers are targeted or not is unknown.

So far, in the past week, there have been reports of two other incidents resulting in death, including one of a 17-year old boy.

The military is trying to work closely with the region’s energy company, Cedenar, to restore power to the approximate 150,000 people for next Tuesday.

“I express anger, rejection and condemn the criminals In the face of what the terrorist groups in Nariño have done,” the minister of Mining and Energy, Mauricio Cardenas, tweeted.

After a meeting yesterday with Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, the Cauca indigenous communities announced a dialogue had been opened up to reestablish peace in the region.

During the meeting, Santos apologised for the armed conflict that has taken place in the region, but stated that he would not withdraw forces from the zone. The communities responded by reiterating their demand for the demilitarization of the Cauca, presenting him with a document that demanded the army leave.

The area has become increasingly militarized in recent months with the escalation of the conflict between government forces and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). In one area alone, more than 3,000 people have been displaced since July.

The dialogues, which are timetabled to last for the next four months, will also confront the territorial claims of the communities, as well the development of the economic, social and cultural rights of the indigenous populations in the region. But the government had suspended a similar dialogue on Sunday, the same day local spiritual leader Lizandro Tenorio was shot dead.

The round tables were due to start today, and will be composed of government delegates, ministers, and representatives of the indigenous people of the Cauca.

Colombian indigenous leader Lisandro Tenoria was killed in Caucas Province on Sunday. The leader of the Nasa tribe was shot dead by unidentified gunmen amid mounting tension between the Nasa and the Farc.

Tenoria’s wife claims the leader was murdered on Sunday by three men who came to his house, shook his hand and then shot him three times in the head. He had been calling for an exit of Farc and security forces from the Caucus Province.

The province is a Farc stronghold and the area has been home to violent clashes between Colombian security forces and the rebel group as well as the Nasa.

The representative of the Organización Nacional Indígenas de Colombia (ONIC), James Yatacue condemnded the crime and claimed the conflict between guerrillas and armed forces has “cornered the native community.”

Tenoria has been the spiritual leader for the Nasa indigenous community of Lopez Adentro for more than thirty years. He had been consistently threatened by members of the Farc, according to relatives and close sources.

Last month Tenoria re-iterated calls for rebels, paramilitaries and police to exit Nasa land in the Caucus province and the Nasa publicly punished three men who had moved across to the Farc. The men were publicly whipped, in accordance with Nasa law.

Since these events, tensions between the Nasa and the Farc have been running high. Earlier this month the ONIC released a document estimating 9,000 people have been forced from their homes and a total of 54 native peoples killed throughout the country since January 2012.

About 15,000 members of the Nasa and other indigenous groups from the region are currently gathered in La Maria, in Cauca province, for a tribal meeting but no conclusion has yet been reached. Interior Minister Federico Renjifo has said that talks are still taking place.

The Colombian government announced today that it will challenge a court decision that forced them to dismantle a military base located on land belonging to indigenous tribes in Guaviare province.

The court stated that the base in Guaviare was endangering the lives of indigenous people who were caught up in the battle between the military security forces and rebel groups.

“We respect the decisions of the court and we abide by them, but we will [ask] the court to revise the terms and issues,” said Colombian defense minister, Juan Carlos Pinzón.

The Colombian Constitutional Court said that the base “violated the fundamental rights of its peoples” and that the “The Jiw and Nukak indigenous groups [were] in grave danger of being physically and culturally exterminated due to the internal armed conflict and the failure of the authorities to give them adequate protection.”

According to the court three indigenous people have already been injured because of exploded ammunition and landmines around the base in Barrancon. The base is used to train members of the Navy and Special Forces.

Commander of the Armed Forces General Alejandro Navas is arguing that the military should not be seen as an invading force. He says that if they pulled out of the area completely it would open up a strategic corridor for Colombia’s largest rebel group, the Farc.

“We’re fulfilling our constitutional duty of ensuring the security of Colombia,” he said, according to BBC News World.

He claims that members of the Eastern Bloc of the Farc would be able to meet up with the Western Bloc and the 16th Front if they leave the area.

The ruling on Thursday morning came just weeks after security forces clashed with members of another indigenous group in south-western Colombia over demands that the army leave their land.

Pictures of soldiers being carried down the mountain by members of the indigenous tribe Nasa sparked heated debate over armed forces on indigenous land.

Pinzón however, said the situation in Guaviare and the situation in Cauca are “totally unrelated” and that the ruling would have no bearing on the forces in the Cauca province.

But Nasa indigenous leader Marcos Yule said the ruling set an important precedent and he is hopeful they can have the same results in Cauca.

The Nasa have demanded that both the army and the rebels leave their territory and take their fight elsewhere.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have announced that they will withdraw from the area of Cauca if the Colombian armed forces and police leave. The FARC have also revealed that they have in their custody two pilots that have been missing for two weeks.

FARC leader Rodrigo Londóno Echeverry – commonly known by his alias ‘Timochenko’ – stated yesterday on Caracol radio, “if the army, the police, and the paramilitaries leave Cauca, if they end their war against the indigenous people, the farmers, the miners, and the people in general, we will not have any problem with leaving also.”

He further stated, “if in Colombia military operations were to cease, the bombings and the machine gunning, the forced displacement, the clearing of the earth, the crimes against the people and the impunity, with all security, there would be no reason for the existence of guerrillas.”

Colombian Minister of Defence Juan Carlos Pinzón responded to FARC’s statement by reiterating that government forces would not withdraw from the region. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has made similar statements in recent weeks.

Pinzón remarked, “That is like living in a film. Our aircraft will continue flying [in the region]”.

Echeverry’s statement responded to a 17th July communication from the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca (Acín) calling for removal of armed forces in the Cauca area. After neither government forces nor the paramilitary groups heeded repeated requests for their removal from indigenous communities in the region, conflict increased in the week following 17th July when indigenous forces near the town of Toribío began to dismantle army and police bases.

In yesterday’s speech, Minister of Defense Pinzón implored the indigenous communities not to be tricked by the FARC, stating that “the only thing [the FARC] do is consistently lie to Colombia all the time”.

He further suggested that the FARC are behind the indigenous insurgent movement in the region, stating, “they call on the communities, they pressure them, they organise mobilisations; to those communities, please denounce the insurgents so that they can be captured”,

Pinzón’s allegations of links between the FARC and indigenous forces echoed earlier statements by President Santos. On Tuesday, indigenous communities in Cauca requested that the government retract earlier statements to this effect.

A representative of the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC), Jesús Chávez, stated, “in reunions between the government and the indigenous communities, respect should be paramount and for this reason we continue asking that the government clarify and explain the subject of the alleged links with the FARC”

He further declared, “It is not true that the indigenous communities are infiltrated by the guerrilla forces. We are requesting the withdrawal from our territory of both the FARC and the military, which demonstrates that we are neither on one side nor the other.”

In its 17th July statement, the Acín stated that the “the guerrilla forces do not bring peace”.

The confrontation in Cauca, which began after the FARC increased violent attacks in the region, has escalated severely since early July. An estimated 3,000 people have been displaced because of the violence in the area around Toribío alone. Five people have died in the confrontation, including two members of the indigenous community and three members of the police.

Yesterday, the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights expressed its concern for the effects of the conflict on the civilian population. The organisation noted “the situation of the indigenous communities in Northern Cauca has gotten worse recently, as a result of the increase in armed conflicts”.

The FARC also announced yesterday that they had in their custody two helicopter pilots who had been missing for two weeks. Carlos Alvarez and Alejandro de Jesús were kidnapped on 10th July in the city of Argelia, which is near Cauca. They had executed an emergency landing in the area.

The FARC requested the formation of a committee with representatives from the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Human Rights Network Isaías Cifuentes to coordinate the release of the prisoners. They also specifically requested the suspension of air operations to facilitate the release.

The paramilitary group revealed that they had mistaken the pilots, who were privately contracted, for members of the military.

The FARC further stated that anyone hoping to “carry out a flyover, study or other work in the regions where the revolutionary guerrilla forces of the FARC-EP maintain a presence should first have the approval of the community that lives in the area and second inform the revolutionary insurgency of his activities”.

One person has died and 26 were injured after Wednesday’s clash between police and the Nasa indigenous tribe in Colombia’s southern province Cauca.

Claiming that the military presence attracts too much attention from FARC rebel forces, the indigenous group stormed the troops at a local base. The Nasa were met with tear gas and armoured vehicles by the riot police.

The riots began earlier this week when the president, Juan Manuel Santos, did not retract military forces from the base as requested by the Nasa. The Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca released a statement saying:

“We profoundly regret having to use force to restore our constitutional rights. This could have been avoided if the army heeded our request in due form and the government had ordered them to leave…”

The Toribio region in the Cauca province has been the centre of conflict between the government and FARC forces as the area is an alleged portal for drug trafficking. Since the military and rebel presences, dozens of indigenous people have died from being caught in the crossfire and one was killed at a checkpoint.

Still, the indigenous people are asking for all armed men from either side to be removed. As of last week, they also surrounded the FARC base and gave a two-week deadline to vacate the area.

Despite this and previous protests,Santosrefuses to remove troops from the area and said that he would only hold a meeting with Nasa representatives if they withdraw from the base.

“I don’t want to see a single indigenous person on our military bases; that’s the order,” Santos tweeted on Wednesday.

After Colombian soldiers were expelled by indigenous leaders from the Cauca region yesterday, President Juan Manuel Santos announced that he plans to investigate the occurrences and bring these leaders to trial. He called yesterday’s incidents “unacceptable” and asked the local community to cease all violent actions, according to Télam.

In protest of the violent conflict taking place between the Colombian military and members of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in the area, the indigenous community in Cauca dismantled barricades built by both the army and the FARC. Members of the community also pushed out a few soldiers who were guarding antennas. Army and government officials believe such actions constitute a serious attack against the military and that indigenous leaders responsible should be brought to trial.

President Santos did acknowledge, on the other hand, that the real enemy of the Colombian forces is the FARC and that his administration respects indigenous communities, Military officials do not seem to agree – General Jorge Jerez stated that the “guerrillas of FARC and the indigenous are working together to remove troops,” as reported by Pulsar News Agency.

Indigenous authorities denied such accusations and submitted a public letter to the FARC asking them to remove their troops from the territory. The letter told FARC that “we do not need your presence because the guerrilla does not bring us peace; you attack our civilians, you disrespect our authority and our justice,” as quoted in Télam.

Marcos Yules, indigenous leader of the town of Toribio in south-west Colombia is demanding an end to the rebel and army clashes in his home.

Ten civilians have been injured in the past few days as FARC rebels shelled the town and surrounding area in an attempt to take its police station.

Cacua, the province where Toribio is located, is a FARC stronghold.

On Monday about 1,000 members of the Nasa, Guambiano, and Paez tribes destroyed trenches built by the police to defend their station.

Their argument is that the increasing presence of security forces in the area is attracting rebel attacks.

Fighting has increased in the region this year, often spilling into the traditional homeland of indigenous tribes. On 2 February at least six people were killed and more than a dozen injured in an attack on a police station in Villa Rica, also in Cauca province.

This attack came only a day after 11 were killed in an explosion in the port city of Tumaco directly to the South.

Indigenous groups are also demanding the exodus of FARC forces. An indigenous commission marched to FARC camps in the mountains surrounding Toribio.

“One thousand of us went to see the guerillas to tell them to leave, that we don’t need them, that we want them to leave us alone,” said Feliciano Valencia of the Cauca Indigenous Committee as quoted in the BBC.

The tribes in the area are uniting in a movement to seize control of the region.

As of now the area, specifically Tumaco, has become one of Colombia’s most lawless cities. New indigenous activism is seeking to change this.