The EU plans to support upcoming peace talks between the government of Colombian President Gustavo Petro and dissident factions of the disarmed Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia People’s Army (FARC) guerrillas, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said on Wednesday.
“I am impressed by what President Petro wants to do with his ‘total peace’ project,” said Borrell, who arrived in Colombia on Tuesday.
“The European Union will accompany this process in every way we can, politically and economically,” he added.
Photo: AFP
Petro has been pursuing negotiations in recent months with a swath of armed actors in Colombia — many of them linked to drug trafficking — including paramilitary groups, criminal gangs and dissident groups that split off from the Marxist FARC guerrilla movement when it signed a peace accord with the government in 2016.
Negotiations are set to begin in May with the Central General Staff, a FARC dissident group.
“What worries me is that the process will require political energy, a commitment from Colombian society, enormous financial resources, and I can guarantee that the European Union will be at Colombia’s side in building this peace,” Borrell said.
Borrell also visited projects aimed at helping the large numbers of migrants that have crossed into Colombia from neighboring Venezuela, in Bogota’s Santa Fe neighborhood.
He announced 10 million euros (US$11.04 million) in aid to support migrant assistance projects, as well as US$10 million earmarked for deforestation prevention efforts.
Separately, Petro on Wednesday replaced seven of his ministers, hours after asking his entire Cabinet to resign due to his difficulties in pushing ambitious reforms through the Colombian Congress.
“Today a new Cabinet is being built that will help to consolidate the government’s program,” Petro wrote on Twitter.
Among those replaced were the ministers of finance and health.
Earlier in the day, three ministers told reporters that Petro had asked his entire Cabinet to resign.
After nearly nine months in power, Petro has been unable to usher in the profound reforms in labor laws, healthcare, pensions and the judiciary that he promised during his campaign.
The Cabinet shake-up marks the most serious crisis to date within Petro’s government.
Additional reporting by AFP
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