Top Catholic church officials in Colombia ask the incoming government to “open the paths towards peace” with the country’s rebel groups, at the annual assembly of bishops in Bogota.
“We are not resigned to continuing the war, we hope the new government will open the path towards peace because the guerrillas have shown that they want to open up a dialogue with the new government,” said Monseñor Leonardo Gomez, the Bishop of Magangue.
Monseñor Juan Vicente Cordoba, the secretary general of the Episcopal Conference, explained “we are waiting for the new government so that they might give us what could be a placet or a green light.”
Gomez is a member of “Colombians for Peace,” a group led by Senator Piedad Cordoba, which campaigns for peaceful end to the conflict with the FARC guerrilla group.
Cordoba said in a radio interview Thursday that she is in negotiations with the FARC to find a resolution to the country’s long conflict.
