The Catholic Church called on the Colombian Government and the
country’s largest rebel group FARC to start a dialogue about the
release of hostages held by the guerrillas.
According to Archbishop Ruben Salazar, the Government should consider all possibilities to seek the release of hostages held by the FARC, including swapping hostages for imprisoned guerrillas. Salazar also called on the FARC to abandon the tactic of kidnapping.
“Before launching anything, we first need to affirm that kidnapping is an inadmissible crime. Therefore there is no justification for the kidnapping of anyone at anytime,” the archbishop said.
He added that a dialogue and rapprochement are necessary and that the parties must leave behind the complete distrust of the other.