The Partido de la U will meet with former President Alvaro Uribe Monday lunchtime to discuss the contentious inclusion of the terminology “armed conflict” in the Victims Law, reported several media sources.
Senator Roy Barreras, a close ally of Uribe and member of the Partido de la U, announced that Uribe had requested the meeting to analyze and present their proposals as to why it is necessary for the term “armed conflict” to be included.
Barreras said that he expects Uribe to support the initiative and that any “serious” Victims Law must include “the word conflict.”
Last week the former president was outspoken in his criticism of the inclusion of the term, having worked to get the international community to recognize guerrilla groups as terrorists.
He argued that calling it an “armed conflict” would legitimize the guerrillas and said there is “no legal reason to link victim reparation with recognition of terrorists.”
For his part, President Juan Manuel Santos said that “For a while there has been conflict in this country,” before explaining that the reason of the terminological change is so as to exclude the victims of common crime.
The Partido de la U is due to meet with President Santos on Tuesday at the presidential palace, where he is expected to sign papers related to the final debate of the long-awaited Victims Law.