ABOUT a hundred Colombian guerilla dissidents surrendered their weapons on Thursday in a step toward their gradual reintegration into civilian life as part of a peace process with the government of President Gustavo Petro.

The members of the national co-ordinating committee of the Bolivarian Army, a dissident faction of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), placed their weapons on a table during a formal ceremony in the department of Putumayo, which borders Ecuador. 

The dissidents will now enter a temporary resettlement zone where the government intends to facilitate their gradual reintegration into civilian life. 

In a statement, the government said the former guerillas “will have their freedom restricted and will be under the control and supervision” of authorities.

“We laid down the iron rifle because we understand that words are a more powerful weapon,” dissident leader Geovany Andres Rojas said as part of the ceremony. 

He made the remarks remotely from jail, where he is being held after being captured last year.

His arrest took place in connection with an Interpol Red Notice for drug-trafficking charges in the United States. 

President Petro, a former rebel leader, is negotiating with the dissident faction as part of his “total peace” policy, which has opened parallel peace negotiations with multiple armed groups.