Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Sunday reiterated his call for peace and the demobilization of the leftist guerrilla group FARC from their birthplace in Marquetalia in the central department of Tolima.
“Here, where the FARC were born 47 years ago, I send a message: demobilize, lay down their arms, renounce violence, renounce terrorism and there we will be ready to give them an opportunity in civilian life,” said Santos.
Santos also condemned the guerrilla group for recruiting children, which he called an act of desperation.
[Desperation] “has forced them to forcibly recruit children of many family, which the only thing they have today for the FARC is hate, because they took their children by force, that has no future,” asserted the head of state.
Santos explained that “they are becoming more evil, we captured nearly 2,000, about 500 of which were discharged members of the FARC, in sum is 4,500 members of the FARC neutralized in the last year.”
The president’s comments came during a weekend in which alleged members of the FARC and other guerrilla forces killed six people, four of which were security force members, and injured another 23, including 10 police officers in separate attacks across the country.
“By the way of arms, they are going to accomplish absolutely nothing, as they have not accomplished anything in 47 years,” Santos concluded.
