Peace negotiations with the ELN in Cuba resumed this week. On the other hand, Gustavo Petro has met with the military leadership, to whom he has stated that he wants to build an army “for peace”
The Colombian President, Gustavo Petrocannounced this Saturday that the suspension of arrest and extradition warrants against the guerrilla negotiators of the National Liberation Armyl (ELN) who are in Cuba to begin peace talks.
“I would like to announce that by decree signed yesterday I have authorized the restoration of protocols, which will allow negotiators to rejoin their organization, suspend arrest warrants for those negotiators, suspend extradition warrants for those negotiators to seek a to start a dialogue with the National Liberation Army (ELN) “to try to build a path, hopefully soon and quickly, so that this organization ceases to be an insurgent guerrilla in Colombia,” Petro announced after ending a meeting with the armed forces in the city of São Paulo, in the north of the country, have also asked the groups derived from the self-defense groups to follow the same path and be included in the peace projects of the country’s institutions.
Exactly this week, the Petro government issued the dialogues with the ELNthrough the Colombian High Commissioner for Peace, Iván Danilo Rueda, and Minister Álvaro Leyva, in HavanaCuba.
“The parties agree on the need to restart a dialogue process with facts that show Colombian society and the world that this want is realsaid the head of the guerrilla, Antonio García.
Talks were interrupted after the ELN did not agree to demands from the government of Iván Duque, which eventually indefinitely suspended any form of dialogue in January 2019 when the attack on a police cadet school left 20 people dead.
Petro at the ceremony of transfer of command and recognition of military forces. Photo: EFE
Build an army “for peace”
In the meeting with the army, Petro stated that the army must start preparing for peace and that he hopes to bring it to that state: “What is demanded by the people of Colombia (…) is an army that is beginning to prepare for peace, which will hopefully end, if we succeed, with an army of peace”
“We set ourselves this challenge. As president of Colombia today, it would be pointless, if it were not to try to reach the pillars of a peace that will become final in the future. Condemning Colombia to war does not deserve a medal We will move forward with history, not just me, but all the people of this generation, of this moment, all of you, soldiers and generals, as we build peace,” he said.
Finally, Petro proposed the armed forces to help industrialize the country, from its own industrialization as Japan did in times of peace.
Order the Armed Forces to Protect the Amazon Rainforest
On the other hand, this week he had already ordered the military and police to protect the Amazon jungle as it was a matter of national security. “First of all, I ask you to catch the great predators of the Amazon jungle. It is an order,” he said on Thursday during his visit to the Amazon, where he also proposed creating an air fleet to fight the fires. Visiting the Amazon rainforest, for which he requested international support to fund the initiative, he emphasized the importance of the Amazon rainforest to the world: “If the Amazon rainforest ends, humanity would reach a point where there would be no turning back no longer possible to save ourselves. All the water from Colombia to the water that reaches the Caribbean Ocean originates in the jungle that surrounds us.”
On the other hand, President Petro spoke about attaching importance to the Amazon Cooperation Treaty (TCA) again. This treaty was signed in 1978 by Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela to preserve the natural heritage of the Amazon basin through the principles of sustainable development.
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Source: EITB
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
