The father of Pablo Emilio Moncayo, the hostage the FARC promised to
release, demanded before a court Friday that Colombian President Alvaro
Uribe stops frustrating the release of his son and allows opposition
senator Pieded Cordoba to mediate the release.
According to Moncayo, his son has “the right to equality” and Cordoba should be allowed the mediation, just as she was allowed in six previous releases this year.
The FARC demand the presence of Piedad Cordoba as a guarantee that the liberation process is conducted as agreed, but Uribe wants to allow only the International Red Cross and the Catholic Church.
The previous hostages releases were political losses for the government, after observers present at the release of four members of the armed forces told press the army was conducting military operations in the area, against the agreed conditions.Uribe now says he wants to prevent the FARC and Cordoba, who the government considers a FARC ally, to put on a “political show”.
Moncayo, weary of the political games, “claims the right to equality, because in previous liberations the participation of Piedad Cordoba was allowed and now it is not. I also claim the right to life, because the military operations as announced by the army, are endangering the life of the soldier [Pablo Emilio Moncayo].”
He wants the judge to order Uribe to allow Cordoba back in the mediation process within 48 hours.