The Colombian government has indefinitely suspended the next round of negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, better known by its Spanish acronym FARC, because of the kidnapping of an army brigadier general. (The next round of talks was scheduled to begin Nov. 18.) The kidnapping comes at a crucial point in the talks, and the negotiations' future remains uncertain. Suspected FARC militants seized Brig. Gen. Ruben Dario Alzate on Nov. 16 as he arrived at the settlement of Las Mercedes in Choco department, Colombia. Alzate is the commander of the Colombian armed forces' Titan Task Force, which is based in the department capital of Quibdo, less than 16 kilometers (10 miles) northwest of the site of the kidnapping. Alzate departed from Quibdo by boat, accompanied by two soldiers and a lawyer.