A Roman Catholic Church official on Friday proposed a meeting in Europe with Colombia’s main guerrilla leader to discuss handover of hostages and possible negotiations to end Latin America’s oldest insurgency.
Previous attempts to bring the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to the table have failed over conditions for the release of the captives it holds in jungle camps and demands that the rebels end hostilities before talks begin.
Colombian Cardinal Dario Castrillon said the plan to seek talks with the FARC was approved by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, whose US-backed army offensive has battered the guerrilla group to its weakest level in decades.
The proposal for dialogue with FARC commander Alfonso Cano came after Uribe blamed rebels for kidnapping and killing Caqueta State Governor Luis Cuellar. He was abducted from his home on Monday and later found with his throat cut, as soldiers pursued the kidnappers.
The kidnapping and murder raised questions about the success of Uribe’s campaign against the rebels. Colombia’s government has received billions in US aid in its security campaign.
“If there is a dialogue it could be in Europe. The possibility is there. The president agrees with that, as long as it is in the best interests of the country,” Castrillon said in an interview with local RCN radio.
He did not give details on where talks could occur.
The FARC has not issued a statement on the kidnapping of Cuellar, the highest-profile attack on a politician during Uribe’s presidency. The Colombia leader, however, has ordered his military commanders to try to rescue 24 police and soldiers held by the rebels, some in captivity for more than a decade.
Cano took over the leadership of the rebel group last year after several of its top commanders were killed and its ranks were weakened by a steady flow of desertions due to increasing military pressure.
Uribe, whose father was killed in a botched rebel kidnapping two decades ago, is popular for his security drive, which has helped cut back on the kidnapping, bombings and attacks that once made violence endemic in Colombia.
“The government is ready to hold talks with these illegal armed groups once they show a real willingness to seek peace,” said Cesar Mauricio Velasquez, a presidential spokesman.
Uribe says any dialogue with the FARC must begin with a rebel ceasefire. The FARC has said it wants to hand over the 24 hostages for hundreds of jailed fighters.
The rebel group previously has unilaterally released hostages in what it has described as goodwill gestures. Uribe said that while welcomed, those releases were part of FARC attempts to score political points. Rebels had said they planned to free two more hostages soon.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS