Colombia May Face Stiffer
FARC Opposition
BOGOTA - A major Colombian rebel group
blamed the election of former defense
minister as new president for instigating
more conflicts in the country, local media
reported on Thursday.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
said in a statement published by the Nueva
Colombia News Agency on Thursday, that there
will be an eventual "radicalization of the
political fight" following the election of
Juan Manuel Santos, a tough fighter against
the rebel group.
"With the illegitimate triumph of the
continuity political system, repudiated by
the abstention of the people, the country
has entered a radicalization process of the
political fight, where the people are the
main character on the front line," the rebel
group said.
"We are in for another four years of
oligarchy offense against the people, in all
the orders, besmeared with official sweet
and tricky promises around a military
victory as they have told us without stop
for 46 years," said the FARC.
The group slammed the government's
"Democratic Security" program for enabling
it to "choose as president the defense
minister who has boosted more (of) these
crimes against the humanity."
It was FARC's first public reaction since
the former defense minister was declared
winner of Sunday's run-off of the 2010
presidential election.
Manuel Santos was elected to replace
outgoing President Alvaro Uribe, after
surpassing opposition candidate Antanas
Mockus. Manuel Santos will take office on
August 7.
The outgoing Colombian president said
Thursday he would request French President
Nicolas Sarkozy to help him re-capture
Rodrigo Granda, a member of the FARC, who
was released in 2007 due to a petition from
France.
"We accepted President Sarkozy's request to
release Granda; tomorrow (Friday) during the
G8 meeting I will ask him to help me to
re-capture him ... I will tell Sarkozy that
I have released that bandit, but it worked
for nothing," Uribe added.
Granda was detained in late 2004 in
Venezuela by Colombian agents. The incident
of cross-border arrest aroused a diplomatic
impasse between Caracas and Bogota, which
was later ironed out with the mediation of
Cuban Leader Fidel Castro.
Granda was released to work as a mediator
for the release of Colombia's former
presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt,
with both Colombian and French
nationalities, who had been taken hostage by
the FARC.
Granda is accused by the Colombian justice
and investigated in Paraguay for kidnapping
and murdering former Paraguay President Raul
Cubas' daughter.
Invited by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen
Harper，President Uribe will attend the G8
Summit scheduled for June 25 and 26 at
Huntsville, Canada. |
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