Colombian Senator Piedad Cordoba apologized to President Santos for asking the European Parliament to pressure Colombia into holding peace talks.
According to Noticias Uno, the leftist senator recognized she had incorrectly ignored Colombia’s autonomy in resolving the 46-year old violent conflict.
“If what I said regarding pressuring him to a humanitarian agreement made him uncomfortable, I publicly apologize, because my intention was not to put him against the wall, but the opposite. I want to be an ally for peace,” the senator told the news station.
Cordoba‘s discourse in Brussels was immediately rejected by the Colombian government, that insisted on continuing its existing policy regarding leftist guerrillas.
While speaking before the EP, Cordoba had called Colombia “a mass grave” and “Latin America’s largest cemetery.” Regarding these comments, Cordoba explained she was reffering to the many deadly victims of extrajudicial killings, guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug traffickers.
Cordoba has for years advocated a political solution to the conflict, but has been opposed by the administrations of former President Alvaro Uribe and current President Juan Manuel Santos who demand that the FARC ceases terrorist activities before peace talks begin.