‘Let’s just go to war’: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte cancels peace talks with communist rebels
Peace talks were revived last year after Duterte – a self-declared socialist – was elected president, with Norway and the Netherlands hosting the negotiations
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has cancelled all future peace talks with communist rebels waging one of Asia’s longest insurgencies, in a blow to efforts to end the half century-long conflict.
In a speech on Tuesday night, Duterte criticised the insurgents over deadly attacks against soldiers and police while threatening to categorise them as a “terrorist” group.
“I have decided to cut talks with the NPAs,” he said, referring to the communists’ 3,800-member armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA).
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has been waging an insurgency since 1968 to overthrow a capitalist system that has created one of Asia’s biggest rich-poor divides.
Peace talks to end the conflict, which the military says has claimed 30,000 lives, have been conducted on and off for three decades.
They were revived last year after Duterte – a self-declared socialist – was elected president, with Norway and the Netherlands hosting the negotiations.