Colombia’s former President Alvaro Uribe slammed a proposal for a ceasefire between the country’s government and guerrilla groups and called to “eliminate” the rebels’ “refuge in Venezuela.”
“Colombians’ blood is being shed and political sectors request a favorable treatment of terrorism,” Uribe said in a statement in response to the proposal by former Senator Piedad Cordoba to implement a three-month ceasefire as a step towards peace talks with guerrilla groups FARC and ELN.
The former president compared Colombia’s situation with that of Spain whose ETA insurgents were pushed out of France, Spain’s neighbor to the north, after which the ETA announced to lay down their arms.
“This terrorist organization, finding themselves without refuge, understood that the only option that remained was to disarm and submit to justice,” said Uribe.
The former president proposed to do the same in Colombia and “eliminate the [FARC’s] refuge in Venezuela so they follow the destiny of the ETA.”
Cordoba’s proposal was widely rejected by Colombian political leaders.