On the eve of a UN voting for Palestine as an “observer state,” Colombia’s main opposition party of Colombia sent a letter to President Juan Manuel Santos asking him to support the resolution.
The president of Polo Democratico party urged Santos, who has expressed opposition to a Palestinian state by UN vote in the past, to support Palestine as a UN observer state. If passed on Thursday, the resolution would “implicitly recognize a sovereign state of Palestine.”
According to newspaper El Espectador, the letter claimed that “this is the right moment to hear the cry of the people expelled from their territory and of the large number of Palestinian families that have made Colombia their new homeland, contributing to rightly build our nationality in its rich diversity.”
Santos stated last year that Colombia would not support Palestine as a state. The president’ position subsequently caused his Palestine counterpart Mahmoud Abbas to visit Colombia, to garner Santos’ support.
The meeting between the two heads of state resulted in the Santos’ approval of a Palestinian state, if peace is made with Isreal and not by a UN vote.
“We want the Palestinian state to exist; not by imposing a vote or a resolution, but rather the product of negotiation as it is the only way to ensure peace. We in Colombia believe in peace as a fundamental right throughout the world,” said Santos.
