Colombia rebel group urges drug decriminalization

Colombia's FARC guerrilla group Monday called on the government of Juan Manuel Santos to decriminalize coca growing and drug use, in peace talks in Havana. FARC negotiator Pablo Catatumbo made the proposal before the day's talks, which are centered on drug trafficking, resumed. The rebels have long been accused of partly funding its operations through protecting drug smuggling routes in rural areas it controls. Colombia vies with Bolivia as the world's biggest exporter of cocaine. In a brief statement read to the press, Catatumbo said the FARC was proposing "demilitarization of anti-drug policies, non intervention by imperialism, and decriminalization of the rural poor" who grow coca, he said. The lead government negotiator, former vice president Humberto de La Calle, said last week that the government intends to continue its crop eradication programs. The guerrilla group also called for decriminalizing consumption of drugs and treating its use as a health problem. Colombia's largest and oldest leftist guerrilla group, the FARC has been in peace talks with the government for over a year. So far, the sides have reached agreement on two of five subjects of negotiations -- agrarian reform and the FARC's return to political life once a comprehensive peace agreement is reached. Issues still to be negotiated are reparations for the victims of the conflict and disarmament. The FARC, established in 1964, has been waging an insurgency against the state for nearly 50 years.