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Bogotá.- Eight ex-commanders of the FARC demobilized guerrillas took their seats in the Colombian Congress on Friday, in a landmark event under the peace agreement and despite the protests A large sector The former rebels will be in power during the government of President-elect Iván Duque, who will take office on 7 August and among his campaign plans, he promotes tax reforms and the pension system, as well as changes to the agreement. peace treaty signed in November 2016 to end an armed conflict of more than half a century.
Duque, a 41-year-old economist, seeks to prevent demobilized guerrillas accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. respond to justice first before holding a political office.
Under the terms of the peace agreement that required four years of negotiations in Cuba, the Revolutionary Alternative Force of the Common, the nascent rebel political party with the same acronym, has five seats in the Senate and five others in the House of Representatives until 2026.
"They are here for the first time … five senators and five representatives of the Joint Revolutionary Force, born of demobilization and disarmament FARC, "said outgoing President Juan Manuel Santos, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the war." FARC Ladies and Gentlemen: Now that you have laid down arms, now that you have agreed to contribute to the truth and to benefit from transitional justice, now that you have sworn to respect our Constitution and the standards and principles of our Republic, welcome to this templ e of democracy! ", Said in his last speech as head of state before the Congress.
Although more than 13,000 FARC members, including about 7,000 fighters, handed over their weapons to the United Nations and there has had a noticeable reduction in violence and attacks in the country of 50 million inhabitants, a large sector of conservative Colombian society opposes seeing former rebel commanders in Congress
A divided country Colombia is divided between those who support the arrival of the FARC and the more conservative sectors that want to see ex-combatants behind bars for having participated in a conflict that has made 220,000 dead and millions of displaced.
One of the absent leaders of the FARC who had been named a congressman was Iván Márquez, who did not protest against the arrest of his rebellious comrade Jesús Santrich and the changes that, at his vis, betrayed and disfigured the peace agreement.
Santrich, who remains in a prison accused of conspiracy to export 10 tons of cocaine to the United States, the country requesting extradition, has also not taken possession. The FARC have not reported immediately if Márquez and Santrich will be replaced.
Although Duque wants to push the changes to the peace agreement, he promised not to destroy it and analysts warned that substantial changes would be difficult. Congress at the pact
Although the party of the Democratic Center Duque, headed by former president Álvaro Uribe, has 51 of the 280 seats in Congress, it must make alliances with other movements to obtain the majority guarantee the approval of the reforms.
Uribe executed during his eight years of government a strong military offensive that weakened the FARC, decisive to bring them to the negotiating table. The presence of former rebels in Congress promises to create tension with the Democratic Center and Uribe, whose hatred for guerrilla warfare was born after their father was killed in a failed kidnapping.
The FARC announced that they would be part of a leftist coalition with the Green Party, Humana Colombia, Polo Democrático and the Indigenous, which brings together about 45 members of Congress [19659002] Up to now, at least 1,200 FARC members have declared themselves dissenting, linked to drug trafficking and accused of
Santos has asked the elected president and Congress to defend the peace agreement and to advance the implementation
"Take care of the peace that is born, take care of it, defend it, because it is good the most precious that a nation can have , take care of the peace so that it becomes strong, so that it bears fruit, because Colombia deserves to live in peace, "he concluded
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