"Take care of the peace that is being born! Defend it!": Saints at the new Congress La Crónica del Quindío

/ Presidency of the Republic

President Juan Manuel Santos said goodbye Friday to Congress with a plea for peace with the FARC during the installation of the elected parliament. March where for the first time ten members of the old guerrillas are represented .

Santos, who will give the presidency on August 7 to his successor, Iván Duque, has addressed the Congress for the last time this July 20 began his regular session speech in which he was applauded standing several times, particularly when he spoke of the need to take care of the peace and when he paid tribute to the members of the armed forces and the police .

The President enumerated some of what he claimed are the most visible results of peace, as thousands of lives saved, thousands of victims and wounded who no longer occur, more investments, more tourism, more work, more resources Recommended: With 12 other lawmakers, Colombia created the Congress of the Republic

"C & # 39; is why today I say – not as outgoing president, but as Colombian more than you want your pa Take care of you! Defend him! Fight for that! Because he is the most trump badet. valuable that a nation can have "he exclaimed

Of the 102 senators and 172 representatives in the House who took their seats in the elliptical hall of the Capitol and to which Santos s & rsquo; Is referred there were ten members of the revolutionary People's Alternative Force , Farc in which the former guerrilla movement was transformed after the signing of the peace agreement of November 2016.

See also: Ernesto Macías, Democratic Center, new President of the Senate

For them, who were handpicked by the FARC to form their first legislative caucus after more than half a century of armed conflict through the peace agreement, Santos has said a few words of welcome after admitting that many will not like to see them in this scenario of debate and civility

"Farc Party Congressmen: Now that they have laid down their arms, now who have agreed to contribute to the truth and benefit from transitional justice, now that they have sworn to respect our Constitution and the norms and principles of our republic, welcome to this temple of democracy! "

The President said that he thought convinced that those who for more than half a century , fought with weapons against the state and its institutions, submit today to the Constitution and Colombian laws.

"We can not agree – and no I am – with its ideology, but that is what democracy talks about to resolve disputes through debate ideas and not by violence . "

See also: Atilano Giraldo, elected vice-president of the House of Representatives

Without directly referring to the problems and threats to the 39, peace agreement, Santos urges the Congress and the future government of Duque to continue n with the correct implementation of what was agreed because what is committed is not the word of the President but of the State

"It is the word contained in an agreement that was known, approved and celebrated international community, which is pending, very pending, of its fulfillment, as they have already said to the elected president "he said

In the new Congress the party Democratic Center founded by the former president and senator Álvaro Uribe, and to which belongs the president-elect, will have a leading role but without the necessary majorities, which l & # 39; 39, will require to seek alliances with other parties, mainly center and right

In the case of the Senate, the Democratic Center is the first force with 19 seats, while in the House it has the second bench, with 32 seats, three less than the Liberal Party.

Santos also dedic A large part of his speech of almost an hour to make a balance of achievements and progress made in his eight years of government .

"There is still a lot of poverty and a lot of inequality, but Nobody can deny what it means that more than one-tenth of the country's population has come out of poverty and that we have for the first time a predominantly middle clbad nation, "he said

Today, no one doubts that the economy, which had slowed down during the last two years, in full recovery "and at the same time the country is advancing in a real revolution in terms of roads and infrastructure to get out of chronic delay This field

The President, who said willingly sacrificed his popularity and would sacrifice him again in return for one of those lives saved with the peace agreement asked members of Congress to determine the common denominators, the minimum agreements that all democracy must be governable [194] 59011].