The United Nations has spoken out in favor of talks between the Colombian government and illegal armed teams implicated in armed confrontations and organized crime.
The UN representative in Colombia, Carlos Ruiz, expressed his support for President Gustavo Petro’s proposal for “total peace” before the Security Council.
The ambassadors of the countries that lately make up the Security Council also applauded what the British ambassador, James Kariuki, “has given a new impetus to peace. “
U. S. Ambassador Jeffrey de Laurentis warned of the risks posed by “drug cartels” and “terrorist groups” negotiating with the government.
Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva pressed that his government’s peace policy aimed to make up for lost time through former President Iván Duque, who practically interrupted a peace process with the defunct FARC guerrilla organization and suspended talks with the ELN guerrilla organization.
Ruiz said the U. N. was “encouraged” by Petro’s plans to resume peace talks with guerrillas from the ELN guerrilla organization and seek respite from violence talks with other illegal armed organizations.
We are encouraged that the new government prioritizes discussion as the main resource for resolving social and armed conflicts, focuses security methods on the protection of vulnerable communities, recognizes the interdependence between lasting responses to violence and old inequalities. . . and encourage the active participation of a wide range of sectors of Colombian society.
The UN representative also highlighted persistent difficulties in providing critical public services such as drinking water in traditionally violent areas.
Ruiz showed that in those rural areas, illegal armed teams continue to pose a constant risk to public safety.
According to the Indepaz think tank, illegal armed teams have committed at least 82 massacres and killed at least 140 network leaders so far this year.
Following an assembly with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Colombia’s foreign minister reiterated the need for a global debate on drug policy.
The vast majority of illegal armed teams that have agreed to negotiate with the government are financed through the production and export of cocaine.
Petro has in the past suggested to the UN General Assembly that it reconsider global drug policy, saying that banning drugs like cocaine fuels violence in Colombia and the rest of Latin America.
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