Colombian government begin new round of talks with rebels

The Colombian government and the biggest guerrilla group in the country began a new round of peace talks in Havana on Monday, which focuses on drug trafficking. However, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) said government spying has negatively affected the process. "We begin this new cycle of peace talks with deep distrust as a result of the absurd espionage by Colombian military intelligence and police," FARC delegation member Pablo Catatumbo said. FARC also condemned Sunday's attack on the campaign convoy of Aida Avella, who is a presidential candidate of the leftist Patriotic Union party. The peace talks, aimed at ending five decades of armed conflict between the government and the armed leftist rebels, began in November 2012. The two sides have already discussed agrarian reform and land redistribution, and the rebels' participation in politics once they disarm.