The recently appointed U.S. special envoy to Colombian peace talks met with government and rebel negotiators for the first time on Sunday, holding separate sessions with each side, a Colombian government official said. President Barack Obama named veteran diplomat Bernard Aronson as special envoy on Feb. 20. It was Washington’s second major engagement with Latin America after reversing longstanding Cuba policy on Dec. 17, agreeing to restore diplomatic ties and end half a century of confrontation with the communist-led island. Cuba is also hosting the peace talks, in which the Colombian government and leftist FARC guerrillas are trying to end Latin America’s longest war, which has killed more than 200,000 people since 1964.

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