Colombia’s Catholic church accused peace advocacy group Colombians for Peace Monday of seeking political gain from the release of hostages.
“I do not disqualify them because everybody has the right to put up their political shows … but this is not for the good of the country,” Monsignor Ruben Salazar, chairman of the church’s episcopal conference, told Caracol Radio.
“They are taking advantage of an extremely unjust situation like kidnapping for political purposes,” the clergy added.
Colombians for Peace is led by Piedad Cordoba, a former senator who was barred from holding office for having alleged ties to the FARC, for which she is under criminal investigation.
Salazar said the church sided with the Colombian government in not allowing any intervention of third parties or foreign countries, because according to Salazar, the hostages are being used.
The FARC announced the release of six hostages in December and released the names of the hostages a month later. However, the release got in a deadlock after the Colombian government said it did not want to use foreign helicopters during the release, as was done in previous operations.