Colombia: New Congress marks rebel group’s transition ‘from weapons to politics’, says UN
New York, July 22 (IBNS): Celebrating the holding of the first session of a new Congress in Colombia, the United Nations has said that the inclusion of former rebels in the legislative body marked their transition “from weapons to politics”.
In a press release issued Friday, the UN Verification Mission in Colombia and other UN operations there said they “celebrate the installation today of the Colombian Congress resulting from the most participative and peaceful legislative elections in decades”.
They added that the inclusion in the Senate and House of Representatives of the political party of the Common Alternative Revolutionary Force (FARC-EP) “marks this group’s transition from weapons to politics and the country’s transition from conflict to the search for reconciliation”.
In 2016, the Government and the FARC-EP signed a peace agreement, ending their 50-year conflict. In mid-March this year, the first congressional elections after the peace deal were held, drawing millions of Colombians to the polls.
The UN entities noted the challenges of violence and poverty persist in rural areas of the country, and hoped that “in a climate of national harmony, the work of a new Congress will be decisive for the extension of state presence under the rule of law and the consolidation of peace across Colombia”.
UN Photo/Hector Latorre
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
