Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos
The president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, said he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and will undergo surgery on Wednesday. Reuters

The Colombian government announced on Tuesday that they will be starting peace talks in October with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a leftist guerrilla group who have conducted an anti-government insurgency in the country since 1964.

The talks will start in Oslo and then move to Havana, according to Reuters.

FARC is known for inciting a long period of violence in the 60's and early 70's, and for kidnapping large numbers of civilians for ransom. But the group announced earlier in 2012 that they would no longer pursue kidnappings to raise funds, and that it would release its prisoners, some of whom had been held for up to 14 years in the Colombian jungles.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said, "There is no doubt it's time to turn the page," and asked the Colombian people "for patience and strength."

Even the leader of the FARC, Rodrigo Londono, said in a video message that he was urging "a civilized dialogue."

Fox Latino and the AP reported that the talks would cover agrarian reform and reducing poverty, among other topics, but also said that Santos was "firm about the government's insistence on not ceding an inch of territory."