Piedad Cordoba asks EU to pressure Santos
By Daniel Brody, Editorial Director
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Liberal Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba asked The European Union on Thursday to pressure Colombian president Juan Manuel
Santos on the subject of ending Colombia's violent internal conflict.
The senator asked the E.U. to prod Santos towards dialogue with groups such as FARC and the ELN, which Santos has recently said he would not do until the groups cease their violent attacks.
"Knowing the situation with human rights in Colombia, I invite the E.U. to pressure Colombia and put more emphasis on the government to start a political dialogue," said the Senator in a conversation with news agency EFE.
The senator, who is a member of the Congressional Peace Commission, wants Santos to initiate a negotiation process, in which not only will the government participate, but also groups working for peace and human rights.
In this way, Córdoba said, the "humanizing of the conflict" will be better acheived.
"The solution is dialogue, something that has not been realized until now," she continued. She also said that it was "incomprehensible" for the E.U. to sign free trade treaties with Colombia while the latter has such a strong situation of "humanitarian degradation, poverty, and misery."
The European Parliament is currently having a debate about the Colombian conflict in light of the recent free trade agreement signed by the E.U. and Colombia, and Córdoba is currently in Brussels to give a statement before the parliament on the subject.
The free trade agreement between the E.U. and Colombia was signed on May 19th of this year, and the current parliamentary debate, initiated by left-leaning Eurpoean parties, has been debating whether the signing of the agreement was a "mistake".
While the E.U. Human Rights Subcommission released a report earlier this week saying that the situation with human rights has improved considerably in recent years, other members of the parliament are not so sure they agree.
Willy Meyer, a Spanish member of the parliament, said that the agreement should not have been signed until Colombia's human rights situation improves.
He further noted that Colombia's history of mass graves, dead bodies, presidents with paramilitary connections, and assassins had nothing to do with "European values."
For their part, the Colombian government dismissed Córdoba's pleas. Colombian Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera said that dialogue as a response to terrorism "only makes terrorism more profitable," and that Córdoba's words "don't even deserve a response from the government."
The European Union's ambassador to Colombia, Fernando Cardesa, responded to Córdoba's request with a statement of support for
Santos' government, and said that they would not pressure them to have any kind of dialogue that they did not feel was necessary with guerilla groups.
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