Arias Talks of Peace in Colombia and That The Process in Costa Rica Is Slow
President Oscar Arias, speaking from Bogotá, Colombia, assured Colombian president, Alvaro Uribe, that his government will achieve peace with the "guerillas" during his next term in office.

"It is your legacy, that for the next four years, to lead Colombians to peace", Arias told reporters.

Arias who was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1987 insisted that the first act by the Colombian president is to find a way to reach an agreement with the FARC that will lead to peace and the release of the kidnapped.

"It makes no sense that you have the oldest "guerilla" in the world and it leads to nothing but violence and I believe the first step is an exchange of prisoners", added Arias.

The Costa Rican president also made a call to the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) and the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) to show good will towars peace in the country.

Arias was in Colombia for the "transfer of powers" ceremony Monday when Urive was sworn in for a second term as president.

A few days earlier, Arias met with 11 members of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) - former para-militaries who are pushing hard for peace - in Casa Presidencial in Costa Rica, asked by the group to intervene in the peace talks as his Nobel Prize carries a lot of weight with all parties in the peace process.

During his press conference while in Bogotá, Arias admitted that changes are moving slowly in Costa Rica, much slower than he had anticipated. "I will do the things I must, but "diay", like well unfortunately know laws, like the TLC, Tax Reforms, etc. have to be passed in the legislature."

"In Costa Rica all is very slow, we all know that. In addition, the congress in India, with 5.000 deputies, is much more efficient that ours with only 57", said Arias who is firm that without the passage of the Tax Reform that will generate new income for the country and the approval of the Tratado Libre de Comercio (TLC) - free trade agreement with the United States - the country cannot move as he had hoped.

Arias said that he knows the obstacles are many and difficult, especially with a multi party legislature that makes agreements difficult to reach, but he will continue to fight for a better Costa Rica and sees a rich and prosperous country by 2021, if changes are made today. The president added that there forces that do not want to see that to happen.