At the “Making Peace in Colombia,” forum in Buenos Aires, Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel stated that UNASUR (the Union of South American Nations) should be involved in any future peace process, Caracol Radio reported Monday.
In response to the Colombian government’s stance that it will not allow foreign intervention in issues of peace, Perez pointed to the unavoidable inclusion of the U.S. in negotiations due to their military presence in the country through Plan Colombia.
Thus, he said, “UNASUR must have a voice and a presence as it did in the conclusion of the matter of seven U.S. military bases in Colombia.”
Colombia signed a controversial pact with the U.S. governing the North American country’s access to at least seven military bases and civilian airports in 2009. It was judged unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court in August 2010.
Perez assured that the forum will draw up lines for a collaborative peace project in Colombia aimed at ending forced displacement, violent deaths and the general industry of war.
The forum in Argentina began on Monday and will last until Wednesday. Through the attendance of both past and current international officials, it is aiming to form concrete proposals for a process to facilitate the end of the conflict in Colombia that has lasted since 1964.