The
Colombian government is investigating how it can solve the legal
situation of Isaza, the guerrilla that helped Oscar Lizcano escape
after being a hostage of the FARC for more than eight years.
It
is a little bit strange — to say the least — that the
government is calling guerrilleros of the FARC to escape together
with their hostages and demobilize, while not knowing what to do when
it actually happens. Isaza has already been offered a huge sum of
money, something like 450.000 dollars.
But even though he did something
great — getting poor Lizcano out of his hell — we don’t know what
he did before. He had been a member of the FARC for ten years, time
enough to do a lot of awful things.
A
lot of paramilitaries who are being judged at the moment most be
frowning their eyebrows now.
And what about the former guerrillero
Rojas, who killed his commander Iván Ríos, chopped off
his hand, seized his laptop and surrendered to the army? As far as I
know he is still in jail, in the high security department, because
former friends of the FARC of his who are in prison would be too glad
to kill him if they got the chance.
Is this fair?
The
government is promising heaven to fighters of the FARC who are
willing to cooperate but it cannot keep its promises at the moment of
truth. This creates a lot of distrust towards the government or let’s
say that the distrust which was already there increases even more.
And that doesn’t help peace come closer.
It is significant
that the FARC are willing to negotiate peace, but not with the
government. They reacted to a letter written by a group of
intellectuals, human rights defendants and siblings of hostages held
by the guerrilla.
This group proposed peace talks and the FARC said
yes. I hope it will happen and that somehow the government can step
in. But then it should be clear and consequent in everything it does.
And the FARC would show their goodwill by letting all their hostages
go. All of them.
Author Wies Ubags is a
Dutch freelance journalist in Bogotá and works for media in
her country.