Colombian Hope for
Prisoner Exchange
The acceptance by
President Alvaro Uribe
of a safe meeting place
to facilitate an
exchange among people
detained by Colombia's
Revolutionary Armed
Forces (FARC) and
guerrillas in prison,
has created new hope
Saturday.
The statesman launched
that initiative Friday
amid general surprise,
because throughout the
week Uribe insisted in
all forums on his
rousing denial to clear
any point of the country
of military forces, as
requested by the FARC
for an exchange.
In fact, the idea of the
zone of contact started
from the Episcopal
Conference, and after
several consultations
with those and
opposition people, it
was adopted by the
president.
This proposal
establishes that the
zone of contact would be
a 58 square mile
deserted area, with no
military present.
According to
authorities, the area
the Commissioner for
Peace and the insurgency
agree for contacts would
be supervised by
international observers
and FARC delegates would
get a safe-conduct to
move freely.
At the same time, the
government announced the
creation of a
$100-million fund to
deliver rewards to
guerrillas who desert
and hand over detained
people. |
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