Tens of thousands of people on Tuesday took to the streets in several cities in Colombia to march for peace between rebel group FARC and the government.
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The people marched to demonstrate their support for the peace process and to remember the victims of Colombia’s armed conflict, as well as marking the 65 years of violence since the assassination of iconic populist politician Jorge Eliecer Gaitan in 1948.
Early Tuesday, Bogota’s city government estimated that as many as 800,000 people were set to march across the country, concentrating in Bogota, Medellin, and other major ciities. Mayor Gustavo Petro has said at least 200,000 people followed Juan Manuel Santos out of the Historical Memorial Center.
Opponents of the march, like former President Alvaro Uribe, stressed the lack of turnout outside of Bogota.
Manizales no le marchó a la impunidad twitter.com/AlvaroUribeVel…
— Álvaro Uribe Vélez (@AlvaroUribeVel) April 9, 2013
Juan Carlos Ramirez, a chef from Medellin, decided not to march today – like many outside of the country’s capital. “As a Colombian, I am for peace, but not the way Santos is doing it,” said Ramirez. A former rural resident, Ramirez has experienced life in the company of the FARC. He is upset that the Santos administration is giving more guarantees to the FARC guerrillas than to the victims of the violence. “We are failing to respect our legal institutions [security forces] … We are punishing our institutions for doing their job while the FARC has robbed, kidnapped and killed the whole time.”
One of approximately 3,000 Medellin marchers for the peace stated, “This [march] is our voice at the negotiation table.”
Another, himself a victim of the armed conflict, having been wounded in a FARC attack in Antioquia, expressed his scorn for the political influences on the negotiations in Havana, Cuba saying “everyone has their own agenda…it is like watching dogs fight over a piece of meat” before concluding that “achieving peace is the most important thing.”
The marchers, the majority dressed in white, joined together in a demonstration of unity against the violence that has terrorized Colombia for the past half a century.
A Bogota marcher emphasized the importance of peace for the country, declaring “peace means a stop to the people dying in hospitals, the poverty in Colombia and the children suffering from hunger.”
This sentiment was echoed by President Juan Manuel Santos, who claimed the peace process was a chance to leave behind its violent history, sating: “imagine what we could be as a society and as a country in a peaceful situation, free from conflict.” The march was inaugurated by Santos in Bogota this morning, who invited the marchers to consider “how our country would be with peace.”
However, the march itself was originally organized as an initiative of left wing social movement Marcha Patriotica, led by former Senator Piedad Cordoba, but in recent weeks has been backed by local and national governments, the Catholic Church, as well as the rebel group FARC.
The rebel group released a statement saying “it is time to rise above any personal qualms, any sordid political calculations and decisively to advance towards the construction of a new Colombia, that we can build together and for the benefit of everyone.”
Sources
- Interviews with marchers in Medellin, Bogota
- EN VIVO | Minuto a minuto de la marcha en Bogotá (Semana)
- Santos inaugura la gran marcha por la paz en Colombia (El Nacional)
- Colombia tiene la oportunidad de cambiar su historia de violencia, afrimó Santos (lainformacion)
- Colombia se une en una marcha por la paz y la esperanza (Prensa Latina)
- Saludan las FARC-EP marcha por la paz en Colombia (Prensa Latina)
- Rutas alternas para movilizarse en Bogotá durante la marcha (El Tiempo)
