Colombia’s Marxist FARC rebels on Tuesday morning confirmed the group is holding army General Ruben Dario Alzate and two others.  The abductions led President Juan Manuel Santos to suspend peace talks in Havana aimed at ending the costly five-decade insurgency.

After some confusion that suggested that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia’s (FARC) leadership may not have even known about the abductions perpetrated by lower ranks, the group released a statement reading, “The three were captured by our units because it involves enemy military personnel, who were carrying out their duties in a war zone.”

The FARC said the incident showed the need for a truce in order to improve the climate for the two-year-old negotiations.  The group supposedly suspended all kidnappings two years ago as a show of good faith to advance the peace process, but has recently said that the policy applies only to civilians, not military targets.

There is no way on earth that President Santos is taking this as anything but a betrayal by the FARC.  He recently won reelection based on pushing the peace talks and ending the civil conflict, which has cost more than 220,000 lives over five decades.  Santos ordered a massive search and rescue mission, and for now at least, it appears the peace process is on hold.