Colombian government and Farc launch peace talks However, he warned: "Peace does not mean that arms go quiet, that we no longer use our arms. It means transforming the state structures - the economical, financial and military structures. Despite the hostile overtones of their comments yesterday, it is the rebels who have been making overtures about a ceasefire, which President Juan Manuel Santos has rejected, believing that a decade of US-supported military action has battered Farc to the point where it will seriously seek to end the war. Farc - the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - may still be Latin America's largest rebel group, with 8,000 armed fighters, but its numbers are down from a peak of 16,000 a decade or so ago, while numerous senior figures have been captured or killed, including its commander Alfonso Cano in November 2011. After a build-up cloaked in secrecy, the two sides held meetings at an disclosed location in Norway yesterday and on Wednesday to discuss technical and logistical issues. A Colombian official described the tone as "respectful and cordial." The negotiations are expected to focus on five main areas: land reform, the rebels" future political role, a definitive end to hostilities, combating the illegal drug trade and the condition of the victims of violence. Access to farmland remains the paramount issue in a country where half of the population lives in poverty and is expected to be the first item on the agenda in Cuba. Land reform was at the heart of a peasant uprising in the 1960s that saw the formation of Farc with the goal of overthrowing the government and forming a Marxist regime. From the 1990s onwards it has been involved in the drug trade, in order to raise money for its campaign, and has long been listed as terrorist group by the US and European Union. The Colombian government estimates that apart from the 600,000 people killed by armed groups and security forces, 3.7 million have been displaced in the conflict. The United States, a long-time ally of Bogota in its fight against drug trafficking, voiced "full support" for the peace process. The Americans are not involved but are being updated regularly, said Victoria Nuland, a spokesman for the State Department. Former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe provided a dissenting voice, saying he was "concerned" about the talks and didn't understand why a country would "negotiate with terrorists."