Colombian Government
Asks Citizens To Help
Former Rebels Rejoin
Society
Colombian government
called on Tuesday its
citizens to help the
former members of rebel
armed groups to resume
their normal social
life.
"We have to help them to
rejoin the society,"
said Frank Pearl, senior
advisor for the
government integration
program.
About 42,000 rebels have
been demobilized since
2002, and among them at
least 10,000 were
members of the FARC,
Pearl said.
He noted that as large
numbers of guerilla
members left the armed
rebel groups,
kidnappings, killings
and extortions have
dropped and tranquility
is returning to the
land.
"The biggest challenge
is not for the
government but for the
society. Most of us do
not want the FARC, but
we are not ready to
receive them," Pearl
said.
Colombian President
Alvaro Uribe encouraged
members of the FARC and
ELN to desert their
groups and promised them
a better life.
The government's move
made the former rebels
aware that they are
wasting the best years
of their lives and
prompt them to look for
a different future,
Pearl said.
But many former guerilla
members encountered
difficulties in
employment, education
and social welfare such
as medical care due to
discrimination by their
communities, said Pearl.
Some of the former
guerilla members have
complained that the
government had failed to
delivery the promised
subsidies of medication,
education and job
training.
Pearl also noted that
FARC has only one third
armed persons, with the
rest only doing logistic
work or managing
finance.
The FARC is the largest
anti-government
guerrilla group in
Colombia. Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe
made clear his
determination to end
armed conflicts between
guerillas,
paramilitaries and drug
traffickers.
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