Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Monday 29 January 2018

Ex-guerrilla launches historic presidential bid in Colombia

By CHRISTINE ARMARIO candidates.
Associated Press Yet even as the ex-com-
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — batants ditch rebel green
Former guerrilla leader Ro- fatigues for simple white T-
drigo Londono was once shirts emblazoned with the
one of Colombia's most- party's red rose emblem
wanted men. Now he is a there have been fresh re-
presidential contender. minders that the road to
The graying, spectacled peace is filled with hazard.
man best known by his alias Two ex-combatants were
Timochenko launched his recently shot to death while
bid Saturday to lead the campaigning for a FARC
government he once bat- congressional candidate
tled from the jungle with in northwestern Colombia.
a celebratory campaign In total, 45 former FARC
kickoff featuring giant post- members or their relatives
ers, colorful confetti and have been reported killed,
even a catchy jingle. according to a recent gov-
"I promise to lead a govern- ernment report. Many fear
ment that propels the birth a repeat of events in the
of a new Colombia," he 1980s, when scores of left-
said. "A government that at ist politicians affiliated with
last represents the interests Former rebel leader Rodrigo Londono, known as Timochenko, salutes at an event to present can- the Patriotic Union party
of the poor." didates running for Congress for the political party formed by former guerrillas of the Revolutionary were gunned down.
Breaking with the tradi- Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, in Bogota, Colombia, Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018. On the same day as the
tional campaign launch (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan) FARC campaign's inaugu-
from a five-star Bogota ho- Hundreds gathered in the campaign song played accord ending more than ration, at least five police
tel, Timochenko initiated parking lot of a commu- from loudspeakers. "For the a half-century of conflict. officers were killed and
his presidential bid from nity center decorated with people." The nation's once-largest another 41 injured when a
one of the city's poorest, banners featuring a smil- The campaign is another rebel group is now known homemade bomb explod-
most crime ridden neigh- ing Timochenko sporting a historic step in transforming as the Common Alterna- ed outside a police station
borhoods in a clear nod to neatly trimmed beard, an- the Revolutionary Armed tive Revolutionary Force, in the northern city of Bar-
the underprivileged class gular, thick-rimmed glasses, Forces of Colombia into a keeping its Spanish FARC ranquilla. q
whose votes the ex-com- and a crisp blue shirt. political party following the acronym, and presenting a
batants are hoping to win. "Timo president," a new signing of a 2016 peace slate of former guerrillas as

Cuba formally inaugurates US-sponsored statue honoring hero

By M. WEISSENSTEIN Miguel Diaz-Canel sat in where the movements of is an exact copy of a sculp- land and overseas despite
Associated Press the front row of the sun- high officials are closely ture installed on the south their political differences,
HAVANA (AP) — President rise ceremony along with scrutinized for clues to gov- end of New York's Central making him a potent sym-
Raul Castro and his expect- Democratic members of ernment plans and inten- Park in 1965. bol of attempts at recon-
ed successor attended the Congress Barbara Lee and tions. Sunday was the 165th anni- ciliation between the U.S.
formal unveiling of a U.S.- Karen Bass of California The bronze statue of Marti versary of the birth of Marti, and Cuba.
sponsored statue of inde- and Kansas Republic Rog- on a rearing horse was a renowned poet, journalist “I’m extraordinarily over-
pendence hero Jose Marti er Marshall, who were the funded with $2.5 million and fighter for Cuban inde- joyed that we in Havana
on Sunday in a sign of Cu- highest-ranking Americans raised in the United States pendence who was fatally can on this day enjoy such
ba's focus on maintaining at the ceremony. in a project started by the wounded in an 1895 battle a beautiful work of poetic
ties with the United States Castro makes relatively Bronx Museum of the Arts, for independence from the inspiration, “Havana City
despite a chill in relations few public appearances, which has longstanding ties Spanish. Marti, who spent Historian Eusebio Leal said
under President Donald endowing the ceremony with Cuban state cultural years in exile in New York in an address to the crowd
Trump. with a stamp of particular institutions. The 18.5-foot City, is almost universally re- that was also broadcast on
Castro and Vice President importance in a country (5.6-meter) long, 8-ton work vered by Cubans on the is- state-run media. q