- Title: Colombia FARC leader says will support 2018 president who backs peace
- Date: 25th November 2016
- Summary: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (NOVEMBER 25, 2016) (REUTERS) LEADER OF THE REVOLUTIONARY ARMED FORCES OF COLOMBIA (FARC), RODRIGO LONDONO ALIAS TIMOCHENKO, ARRIVING WITH FARC COMMANDER PASTOR ALAPE FOR MEETING WITH INTERNATIONAL MEDIA JOURNALISTS FILMING AND PHOTOGRAPHING CONFERENCE GENERAL VIEW OF CONFERENCE BEGINNING ALAPE AND LONDONO WAITING FOR CONFERENCE TO BEGIN ALAPE AND LONDONO SITTING WITH JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FARC LEADER, RODRIGO LONDONO, ALIAS TIMOCHENKO, SAYING: "It should be a transitional government, adding together all the strengths and opinions of all those in the homeland that want peace to be consolidated." JOURNALIST ASKING QUESTION (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FARC LEADER, RODRIGO LONDONO, ALIAS TIMOCHENKO, SAYING: "The United States has played a protagonical role in all of this, and we greeted [Donald Trump] on the basis of his support for peace, we greeted him. Now there is a new president, we thought that this president should continue the role played by the United States, and this is what we called for, for the continuation of this role. At the end of the day in the United States it is the president who determines policy." LONDONO AND ALAPE LISTENING TO QUESTION (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FARC LEADER, RODRIGO LONDONO, ALIAS TIMOCHENKO, SAYING: "I think that we have learnt from the experiences of Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, the whole world and all sorts of positive and negative experiences which we can learn from, but which do not work here because Colombia is Colombia and has its own particularities. Any political programme has to be based on the reality of the country." JOURNALISTS FILMING AND LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FARC LEADER, RODRIGO LONDONO, ALIAS TIMOCHENKO, SAYING: "We know and predict that these types of situations will come about. What is more, it is probable that attacks on leaders increase and that they carry out provocations in areas where our people are. We have alerted our people a lot that they should not let themselves be provoked, but this is the challenge and I think this is where the international community has to play a proactive role. I think the demonstrations, rejections and denunciations have been important, but it should play a more proactive role, because we cannot return to the time of the Patriotic Union, when people kept being killed and all they did was file a denunciation, which was seen as indifference." ALAPE SPEAKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FARC LEADER, RODRIGO LONDONO, ALIAS TIMOCHENKO, SAYING: "This is an agreement which tastes of victory, because the forces who opposed peace tried to stop us from achieving it and we have achieved it. We were flexible on some positions but not on our principles. The fundamental structure of the accord has been maintained. We had to cede in some things, but we won other things. When this is studied as a whole this is what will be seen. We have laid the minimum bases needed to begin to construct peace. The accord is not peace, we are laying the minimum bases, and we have arrived at the minimum to begin to construct the columns which will sustain peace in Colombia." JOURNALISTS FILMING CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS GATHERED AROUND LONDONO AS HE LEAVES CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 10th December 2016 19:18
- Keywords: FARC Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia Colombia Timochenko Rodrigo Londono peace
- Location: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
- City: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
- Country: Colombia
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA00159Y1XZB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Colombia's Marxist FARC will support a presidential candidate in 2018 to prevent a peace accord being modified or scrapped, rebel leader Rodrigo Londono said on Friday (November 25), an apparent bid to block former President Alvaro Uribe's right-wing party taking office.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia signed a peace agreement with the government on Thursday, converting it into a political party that will have some weight when President Juan Manuel Santos stands down.
Speaking to the international press, Londono, 57, said there is a struggle in Colombia between those who want peace and those who want the five-decade war to continue. He agreed there is a risk that a political opponent could seek to alter the accord once in office.
"It should be a transitional government, adding together all the strengths and opinions of all those in the homeland that want peace to be consolidated," said the veteran fighter, known by his nom de guerre Timochenko.
The government and FARC worked for four years in Cuba to negotiate an end to the region's longest-running conflict, which killed more than 220,000 and displaced millions in the Andean nation.
The FARC, which began as a rebellion fighting rural poverty, has battled a dozen governments as well as right-wing paramilitary groups. It is considered a terrorist organisation by the United States.
Londono surprised many listening at the signing of the agreement, in extending a greeting to the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump.
He explained the comment on Friday, saying that the United States had been active in financing and contributing to the war in Colombia, and that he hoped the new president would work to uphold peace in the region and world.
"The United States has played a protagonical role in all of this, and we greeted [Donald Trump] on the basis of his support for peace, we greeted him. Now there is a new president, we thought that this president should continue the role played by the United States, and this is what we called for, for the continuation of this role. At the end of the day in the United States it is the president who determines policy," said Londono.
Questioned on the shape of the policies of the party to transition out of the FARC, Londono said details would be revealed next year.
"I think that we have learnt from the experiences of Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, the whole world and all sorts of positive and negative experiences which we can learn from, but which do not work here because Colombia is Colombia and has its own particularities. Any political programme has to be based on the reality of the country," Londono said, refusing to reveal the name of the party.
An original draft was rejected in a plebiscite last month as too lenient on the rebels, forcing the two sides back to the negotiating table for a second, slightly modified document.
The still-popular and powerful Uribe spearheaded the push to reject the original accord and wants deeper changes to the new version. He has called for protests and may seek a new referendum to scrap the accord.
Despite widespread relief at an end to the conflict, many among Colombia's largely conservative residents are angry because the deal will not jail FARC leaders who committed crimes like kidnappings and massacres. It also allows them to hold political office.
Given such tense sentiment, Londono fears that violence against FARC members could increase in the coming months as they go through the disarmament process and become absorbed into society.
"We know and predict that these types of situations will come about. What is more, it is probable that attacks on leaders increase and that they carry out provocations in areas where our people are. We have alerted our people a lot that they should not let themselves be provoked, but this is the challenge and I think this is where the international community has to play a proactive role. I think the demonstrations, rejections and denunciations have been important, but it should play a more proactive role, because we cannot return to the time of the Patriotic Union, when people kept being killed and all they did was file a denunciation, which was seen as indifference," said Londono, referencing the violence committed against a political party which surged out of several guerrilla groups in 1985.
Expressing his satisfaction with the accord, Londono also warned there is a long road ahead.
"This is an agreement which tastes of victory, because the forces who opposed peace tried to stop us from achieving it and we have achieved it. We were flexible on some positions but not on our principles. The fundamental structure of the accord has been maintained. We had to cede in some things, but we won other things. When this is studied as a whole this is what will be seen. We have laid the minimum bases needed to begin to construct peace. The accord is not peace, we are laying the minimum bases, and we have arrived at the minimum to begin to construct the columns which will sustain peace in Colombia," said Londono. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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