FARC demands Colombia government release classified files

Colombia’s FARC rebels called on the government Wednesday to release classified military and intelligence files about the half-century old civil war, saying full disclosure is key to any future reconciliation between the two sides. The Bogota government should “proceed to open up its official archives and definitively declassify information regarding various issues related to the conflict,” said Joaquin Gomez, a negotiator for the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia group. Gomez called for the creation of a special commission that would oversee the documents and, in consultation with members of the FARC, determine which records would be declassified and made available to the public. He said among the documents that the FARC is keen to have access to are records from the Colombian military, police and intelligence agencies.