"Let us make the effort to here by December 31 can, for example, end point five (of casualties), the end of the conflict and be able to declare a bilateral ceasefire, internationally verified, from the first of January "Santos said in an official ceremony in Bogota.
The response from the guerrillas came through peace negotiator Rodrigo Granda, alias "Ricardo Tellez," who suggested in his Twitter account that measure advance in mid-December.
"Christmas without fear. When you want to give something, it becomes at best. December 16 start bonuses. Why wait for Jan. 1? "He asked in a message highlighted the FARC leader, Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri, alias" Timoshenko ".
Although currently it is only a possibility, Chile has already expressed its willingness to contribute to international verification in its capacity as companion country in the peace process.
"Chile is available for consideration of this application (check) and we have the best arrangement. We'll see if it will be with others, I do not want to anticipate, but the political will to cooperate with the consolidation of the peace process by Chile's "Minister of Foreign Affairs of that country, Heraldo Munoz said in Bogota.
The bilateral termination has been repeatedly demanded by the guerrillas to reduce the intensity of the armed conflict, something the government has always rejected for fear that this pause will serve the insurgents to rearm.
However, the question round for months the Executive, as said last August the chief negotiator for the Colombian government, Humberto de la Calle, who said he could always be and when enough progress was made on the remaining issues to be discussed, the victims and disarmament and demobilization of guerrillas.
"If the agreement is clear horizon, and serious conditions exist, it is possible to conduct a bilateral cease-fire and indefinite even before the signing of the final agreement," then De la Calle, who even stated that November would be the date to decide if applied before the cessation of the peace agreement.
However, it was not necessary to exhaust October for Santos can see decree bilateral ceasefire and say that, at least on his part, "there" will, for what he has given "instructions to negotiators" Government in that sense.
In addition, as a clue, the president reminded today that "Timoshenko" mentioned the possibility of "give it a good Christmas gift to the country."
The option proposed by the president comes at a time when violence in Colombia is at its lowest level in 40 years, according to a report by the Center of Resources for Conflict Analysis (Cerac) published in September.
This decrease is mainly due to the unilateral ceasefire that the FARC began last July 20, which was answered a few days later by Santos with a new suspension of the bombing of the guerrilla camps.
Nevertheless, "Timoshenko" warned several days of military operations in areas where guerrilla fronts "disturbed" the cease-fire are present insurgent ago.
And in the last hours four FARC guerrillas killed in combat with the Army in rural area in southern Colombia.
Coincidence or not, the announcement blown Santos hopes to give more definite steps towards ending the conflict, which is reached at the latest on 23 March, they agreed to Santos and "Timoshenko" on 23 September in Cuba.
That day was achieved, within the victims point, the transitional justice landmark agreement that apply to actors in the post-conflict, one of the thorniest issues in the negotiations.
This combines the historic pact of October 17 to search tens of thousands of missing persons in the framework of the contest, which lasted more than half a century.