The Colombian Catholic Church asked President Álvaro Uribe not to
aspire a third presidential term and says the State should hold talks
with the FARC to achieve peace.
Archbishop Ruben Salazar Gomez told newspaper El Tiempo that “it is antidemocratic for one person to stay in power.”
“It is better that he [Uribe] does not aspire a new re-election, because change would be better for the country. It isn’t good to change democracy. We have a presidential regime that’s very strong and because of that the indefinite re-election of the President is not deseriable,” the arch bishop added.
Salazar Gomez added that “it isn’t clear or clean, from the democratic point of view, to continuously reform the constitution so a President can stay in power.”
The arch bishop also called for a political solution to Colombia’s 45-year long conflict. “You have to open the doors for a political dialogue if you really want to make an end to the conflict. We want that a minimal deal is reached, and through which dialoguethey look for a solution to the armed conflict.”