UNASUR (Union of South American nations) Secretary General Nestor Kirchner currently in New York with the Argentine delegation for the United Nations General Assembly, said that the Colombian guerrilla FARC “are so back in time, that they are even far behind the Cold War”
Colombian Defence minister Rodrigo Rivera ruled out any dialogue with the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) guerrillas after they killed five soldiers and 14 police officers, and called on the Army to get tougher on terrorist actions.
Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos said the best way Brazil can help to find a solution to the internal conflict of Colombia is by declaring the FARC guerrilla a “terrorist group”.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos ruled out, for the time being, any possible dialogue with the guerrilla organizations and said he would abstain from naming a peace commissioner. At the same time he called on the armed forces to increase their efforts in combating terrorism.
The Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces, FARC guerrillas, currently have an estimated “7.000 armed terrorists” which compares favourably with the 20.000 eight years ago when President Alvaro Uribe took office for the first time, said the Colombian Army outgoing commander, General Oscar Gonzalez.
An estimated 160.000 Colombian law enforcement agents will reinforce security for when president-elect Juan Manuel Santos takes office next August 7, said General Orlando Paez Baron, head of the Colombian Police’s Citizens Security´.
The Brazilian Executive spokesman Marcelo Baumbach said on Saturday that President Lula da Silva had a long conversation on the phone with Colombian president-elect Juan Manuel Santos and they talked about the diplomatic crisis with Venezuela.
Colombian President-elect Juan Manuel Santos named former Senator Rodrigo Rivera as his defense minister in an apparent bid to maintain the outgoing government’s pressure on guerrillas.
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez office has confirmed he will be participating of the coming Mercosur presidential summit scheduled for next August 3 in San Juan, north of Argentina when the rotating chair of the block will be passing from Buenos Aires to Brasilia.
Venezuela’ Foreign Affairs minister Nicolás Maduro revealed to Paraguayan officials that his country would be proposing in the coming Unasur meeting a “political negotiation” to end decades of political violence in Colombia.