Ex-Senator Piedad Cordoba is convinced that guerrilla group FARC will release hostages and begin a “political dialogue” that will attempt to end the armed conflict that has been destroying Colombia for nearly 50 years, reported newscast CM& Thursday.
Cordoba, who has been a political mediator with the FARC to liberate a dozen hostages in the last few years, has publicly released a letter directed to the guerrilla in which she solicits the release of their captives.The document was created by a group of 12 women from various nations, that have all had experience in communicating with the FARC.
Her expectation is that “the response will be positive” and “the fastest possible” from the FARC, who still has 18 military and police hostages, some of which they have had for more than 10 years.
The reason the ex-senator feels that the FARC will respond positively is because she has the support of the other women dedicated to peace in Colombia.
“Their presence guarantees it, they all have experience with the war in their countries,” remarked Coroba, and insisted that “the war doesn’t have any meaning” and “the most important thing is to arrive at the point of negotiation and political dialogue.”
However, in opposition, Colombian President Santos said this week that his government has not authorized anyone to address or negotiate with the guerrilla, to which Cordoba responded “the search for humanization doesn’t require the permission of anyone.”
“The FARC will respond positively, we believe in inspiring confidence in the work that we have done because our proposal is part of addressing these extremely difficult situations” concluded Cordoba.