Colombia’s bishops willing to mediate between government, rebel group
July 16, 2014
The new president of the Episcopal Conference of Colombia has said that the nation’s bishops are willing to mediate in the dispute between the nation’s government and the National Liberation Army, a Marxist rebel group, according to a L’Osservatore Romano report.
Citing progress in talks between the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC, a larger Marxist rebel group, Archbishop Luis Augusto Castro Quiroga of Tunja said that “if we were asked to mediate or facilitate a negotiation, we would certainly say yes.”
“The guerillas have understood that the means used to end poverty, inequality that left a trail of deaths and suffering in the nation,” he added.
Total casualties in the Colombian conflict, which began in 1964, are estimated at 50,000 to 200,000, and the conflict has led at least 2.4 million to flee their homes.
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