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The president of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos took leave of Congress this Friday with a plea for peace with FARC to install the elected Legislative on March 11 in which for the first time ten members of the former guerrillas are represented
Santos, who will hand over the August 7 presidency to his successor, Iván Duque, will be He addressed to the Last time in Congress, which began its regular session, speech in which he was applauded standing several times, especially when he spoke of the need to "take care of peace" and when he paid tribute to members of the Armed Forces.
The president listed some of the "most visible results" of peace, such as "thousands of lives saved, thousands of victims and injured who are no longer produced, more investment, more of tourism, more work, more resources protected natural "
" That's why today I'm telling you, not as outgoing president, but as a Colombian who loves your country, to you, in Congress, and to the next President Duke: Take care of the peace that is being born! Take care of yourself! Defend it! Fight for that! Because it is the most valuable asset that a nation can have, "he exclaimed.
Of the 108 Senators and 169 Representatives in the House who have took office Friday at the elliptical hall of the Capitol, ten members of the FARC (Common Alternative Revolutionary Force) in which the former guerrilla group was transformed after the signing of the November 2016 peace agreement. 19659008] 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 said a few words of welcome after admitting that "many will not like to see them in this scenario of debate and civility."
"Lords of Congress of the FARC Party: Now that they have laid down their arms, now that they agreed to contribute to the truth and to benefit from transitional justice, my 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 he was satisfied" that those who for more than half a century have fought with weapons against the State and its institutions, Constitution and laws of Colombia, as we all do. "
" We can not agree – and I am not – with their ideology, "he said about the FARC," but that's what it's all about. " 39, it is. It deals with democracy: to resolve disputes by the debate of ideas and not by violence. "
Without a direct reference to the problems and threats threatening the peace agreement, Santos urged the Congress and the future government of Duque" will continue with the proper execution of the agreement "because this that is committed is not the word of the president but of the state. "19659011" "This is the word contained in an agreement that has been known, endorsed and celebrated as none by the international community. national, which is outstanding, very pending, respect, as they have already told the president-elect. "
In the new Congress, the Democratic Center Party, founded by the former President and Senator Álvaro Uribe and which belongs to the elected president, will have a leading role but without the necessary majorities, which makes it possible for him to hold office. will require to seek alliances with other parties, mainly central and rights.
In the case of the Senate, the Democratic Center is the first force with 19 seats, while in the House has the second bench, with 32 seats, three less than the Liberal Party.
– "Retired from politics" –
Santos also devoted much of his speech for nearly an hour "There is still a lot of poverty and a lot of inequality, but no one can deny what it means that more than one-tenth of the country's population has emerged from poverty and we have for the first time a predominantly middle-class nation ", he said.
Se lon the president, "no one doubts today that the economy, which had slowed in the past two years, is in full recovery" and at the same time the country is advancing in "a real revolution in terms of roads and infrastructure "to break the chronic backlog in this area.
The president, who said that he "willingly sacrificed" his popularity "and he would sacrifice it again in exchange for one of those lives saved" with the peace agreement, he asked to Congressmen "to build the common denominators, the minimum agreements that any democracy needs to be governable"
Before the closeness at the end of his term, Santos rejected the Congress with the reiteration that it comes back to his "status of ordinary citizen, withdrawn from politics."
Source: EFE
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