UN Secretary-General visited Colombia prior to the year of the FARC peace treaty | United Nations News

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has visited Colombia as South America prepares for the fifth anniversary of the peace agreement between the government and its former allies. the largest group of terrorists.

Following in the footsteps of Colombian President Ivan Duque, Guterres on Tuesday visited Llano Grande, a site that also includes former members of the commission. Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Marxist terrorist group.

The Colombian government and FARC members signed it peace agreement in 2016 ending a six-year-old war that has displaced millions and left more than 260,000 people dead.

The alliance’s five-year anniversary – which saw nearly 13,000 FARC fighters lay down their weapons and promise to live a normal life – was unveiled on Wednesday.

“Every day, they renew their commitment to building a peaceful world and addressing the challenges that remain,” Guterres said in a tweet during his visit to Llano Grande. He knows that peace will not come someday. It takes effort to build and maintain it. ”

I am happy to meet the people of Llano Grande in Colombia.

On a daily basis, they renew their commitment to building a peaceful world and addressing the challenges that remain.

He knows that peace will not come someday. It takes effort to build & repair. pic.twitter.com/zd1DVxQAwh

– António Guterres (@antonioguterres) November 23, 2021

The UN chief was also outraged by “enemies of peace” and called for “assurance of the protection of former warriors, traditional leaders and the people. human rights activists”In Colombia. “We need to redouble our efforts to ensure the sustainability of [reintegration] jobs, and technical assistance with money, land and housing, ”he said.

Despite the 2016 agreement, violence continues in a number of areas in Colombia where FARC opponents who rejected the peace deal still have weapons, among others armies and drug traffickers are active.

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) he said in March that 389 people were killed by gunfire in Colombia last year – the highest number since 2016 – as armed conflict escalates in the country. Most of the victims were civilians, the ICRC said.

About 300 former members of the FARC they too have been put to death nationwide since the agreement was signed, according to the Indepaz rights group.

On Tuesday, Guterres met with a former FARC official Rodrigo London, who said the presence of Duque was a source of “encouragement”.

Despite the “many obstacles … although we have had about 300 members killed, we are committed to the process that took place five years ago,” said Londono, who is often referred to by his former name, Timochenko.

“We honor the commitments made in Colombia and around the world,” he said.

UN he said Guterres also spoke to Fredy Gustavo Dimate, a former FARC veteran who had been a member of the group for 20 years but since then the peace accord has been training and working to make coffee.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration plans to remove the FARC from the list of foreign “terrorist organizations”, Reuters reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.

Reuters reports that the U.S. Department of State has notified Congress of its plans and an announcement is expected in the coming days.

Leaving the name “terrorism” could help free US aid from projects that were former members of the FARC and strengthen full cooperation and reaffirm US support.

“We have begun discussions with Congress on what we are doing about the FARC,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

Price declined to comment on whether this would mean removing the FARC from the blacklist, but said Biden’s administration was committed to “achieving and maintaining” the Colombian peace agreement.

The Colombian government, one of Washington’s closest allies in Latin America, has not immediately responded to Reuters’s request.

The United States first designated the FARC as a “terrorist” organization in October 1997.

Following the removal of the group, FARC members entered politics, initially calling themselves Revolutionary Alternative Common Force, in keeping with the FARC’s words. Later he also changed as Wamba and the party leadership won 10 congressional seats after a peace deal.