BOGOTA.- The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petroproposed to the Pope to hold a round of negotiations with the National Liberation Army (ELN) in the Vatican, during the 35-minute audience he held with the Pontiff in the Holy See.
“It is possible that we will make a round here (in the Vatican), we will talk to the ELN. Well, it seems that we can build an even deeper step in the abandonment of violence, with a scenario like this, it would seem very suggestive to me for the whole society,” Petro told reporters at the end of the meeting.
After taking office in August 2022, Petro launched an attempt to reach an agreement with all armed groups, both political and criminal. However, the presence of various old and new armed groups, among which are the ELN, dissidents of guerrilla groups or groups emerging from paramilitary demobilization, persists in the midst of dialogue and negotiation processes.
Recently, the Ombudsman of ColombiaCarlos Camargo, rejected the president’s proposal Gustavo Petro to pay illegal armed groups to stop committing crimes and asked the president to establish a “clear and immovable position” in line with respect for human rights.
“It cannot be the State that finances illegal armed groups, much less if they have not completed and brought to fruition a peace process,” said the Ombudsman, who stated that “we will continue as a human rights institution insisting on our calling: human life has no pecuniary value, The freedom of people cannot be commercialized, the right to life of human beings is non-negotiable“, reported Semana.com.
Camargo considered that if financing is granted to the armed groups and they are asked in exchange to stop committing crimes, it would be accepting the proposal made by the ELN leader, Antonio García, according to which the government would finance the ceasefire. In his opinion, that would be very negative for Colombia.
Before his meeting with Francisco, Petro had expressed his intention to discuss “Colombian peace first and foremost,” highlighting the crucial role that the Catholic Church has played in this process. Furthermore, he emphasized the intention to speak about world peace in his conversations with the Pontiff.
The Colombian president gave the bishop of Rome coffee from his country and a ruana, a traditional piece of clothing from the Cundimarca highlands and considered a national symbol. For his part, Francisco presented him with a bronze sculpture that represents two hands joining together and in the background a woman with a child and a ship of migrants with the phrase ‘Let’s fill our hands with other hands.’
Source: With information from Europa Press/AP
