Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 6 september 2017

Pope, Catholic Church push rebels, Colombians to reconcile

By CHRISTINE ARMARIO ta. “This mixes issues related indigenous groups.
Associated Press to both Catholic morality Pope Francis himself gave
LA PAZ, Colombia (AP) — and political positions.” negotiators a strong push
The rebel commander ap- The Revolutionary Armed when he visited Cuba in
proached church workers Forces of Colombia, bet- 2015, telling them they
at a remote camp in north- ter known by its Spanish didn’t have the right to
ern Colombia with an un- acronym FARC, formed abandon peace efforts.
usual request. in the mid-1960s to mount He said he would visit
Four former combatants an armed insurrection to Colombia only once an
beginning life as civilians overthrow the system and agreement was signed.
had recently given birth, open the way to redistrib- In total, the conflict left
the first children born to uting land amid economic more than 250,000 people
women no longer dodging inequality. dead, 60,000 missing and
bombs and bullets in the Much of the FARC has his- millions more displaced
jungle. torically been hostile to reli- — wounds that for many
“They are waiting to be In this Aug. 30, 2017 photo, a worker applies fresh paint to the gion, both over its view that cannot be closed with the
baptized,” he explained. Cross of the Reconciliation in preparation for the upcoming the Catholic Church was generous terms offered to
Would the church provide papal visit, at Parque de Fundadores or Founders Park, in a reactionary force back- rebels under last year’s ac-
a priest? Villavicencio, Colombia. In the nine months since Colombia ing the Conservative Party cord. A narrow majority of
In the nine months since passed an historic peace accord with the nation’s largest rebel during a 10-year civil war Colombians rejected the
Colombia passed a his- group to end Latin America’s long-running conflict, the Roman known as “La Violencia,” or agreement in a referen-
Catholic Church has emerged as a guiding force in bringing
toric peace accord with rebels back to civilian life and leading a still-bitter nation toward “The Violence,” and from dum before it was passed
the nation’s largest rebel reconciliation. the atheism of the rebel by congress.
group to end Latin Amer- (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara) group’s communist ideol- “People still think the FARC
ica’s long-running con- ogy. Dozens of priests were should pay with jail and
flict, the Roman Catholic of psychologists and social tional reconciliation in the slain and dozens of church- blood,” said Diego Lerma,
Church has emerged as a workers are explaining the city of Villavicencio, where es were damaged or de- a church worker aiding
guiding force in bringing peace accord and facili- 6,000 victims from around stroyed over the years. reconciliation efforts.
rebels back to civilian life tating encounters with the the country are expected “Nearly all of these killings The first year of the ac-
and leading a still-bitter na- rebels many mistrust. to gather. And he will be- were attributed to leftist cord’s implementation has
tion toward reconciliation. “The immediate task is im- atify a Colombian bishop guerrillas, particularly the been marked by spotlight-
Pope Francis is expected to plementing the accords, killed in 1989 by guerrillas FARC,” a 2004 report sub- grabbing achievements
build on those efforts during but the bigger challenge of the National Liberation mitted to the U.S. Senate’s like the FARC’s disarma-
this week’s trip to the South is how to reconcile Colom- Army, another leftist rebel Committee on Foreign Re- ment and by the state’s
American country. bians,” said the Rev. Dario group now negotiating lations concluded. glaring failures to bring ser-
Priests are celebrating Mass Echeverri, secretary gener- peace. But the pontiff is In spite of the bloodshed, vices to the hard-to-reach
at the rustic camps where al of the church-led Nation- also likely come face-to- the church took a position communities where the
rebels have laid down their al Conciliation Commission. face with profound discord as a mediating force. Dur- government has historical-
arms. Catholic aid workers Francis has been one of the the agreement has sowed ing four years of negotia- ly had little presence and
are helping former guer- chief advocates for peace even within the church. tion in Havana leading to where rebels are beginning
rillas track down relatives in this deeply Catholic “Certain sectors are resis- last year’s accord, priests a new chapter as civilians.
they have not seen in de- country, urging leaders for tant,” said Fernan Gonza- accompanied victims to Former guerillas arriving at
cades. In the rural commu- and against the agreement lez, coordinator for peace Cuba to testify about the many of the 26 demobiliza-
nities hit hardest by the 53- to settle their differences. and development with a atrocities they had en- tion zones found little more
year conflict, church teams He will lead a prayer for na- Jesuit organization in Bogo- dured and advocated for than fields of mud, and
months later many remain
living in tents rather than
Colombia: nation’s top drug fugitive eyes surrender the buildings with running

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) ture. forces. Some 1,500 members of water and electricity that
the government promised.
— Colombia’s president President Juan Manuel Santos did not provide fur- Colombia’s security forces Twenty-two former FARC
says the country’s top drug Santos says Dairo Usuga ther details Tuesday. have been tracking the members or their relatives
fugitive has expressed in- sent word that he is inter- But his vice president said Gulf clan’s top leaders for have been killed since the
terest in turning himself ested in surrendering Sept. Usuga sent authorities a over two years. end of hostilities, accord-
and ending a life on the 3. Usuga’s top lieutenant document that his Gulf The group is the nation’s ing to a lawyer for the reb-
run with a $5 million U.S. was recently killed in an clan would likely make largest drug-trafficking or- el group now transforming
reward offered for his cap- encounter with security public soon. ganization. q into a political party. q