RIGHTS-COLOMBIA:
Walking from Bogota to
Caracas for Peace
By Constanza Vieira
BOGOTA, (IPS) -
After walking 800 km
from Bogota, Colombian
teacher Gustavo Moncayo,
known as the "peace
walker", crossed into
Venezuela on his way to
Caracas. Escorted by
hundreds of supporters,
the 55-year-old Moncayo
was handed a torch, and
a Venezuelan flag was
draped around his
shoulders.
"We will be walking
nearly 700 km across the
‘llanos’ (plains) and
will possibly be
knocking on the doors of
Caracas, and the
government Palace of
Miraflores, in
mid-January," he told
IPS by telephone late
Thursday from the
outskirts of San Antonio
del Táchira, the first
city on the Venezuelan
side of the border.
Ten years ago, on Dec.
21, 1997, his son, army
corporal Pablo Emilio
Moncayo, who is now 29
years old, and corporal
José Libio Martínez, 30,
were captured by the
leftist Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC) guerrillas during
an assault on the
Patascoy military base
in southwestern
Colombia.
They are among the
longest-held of the FARC
hostages, who include 31
other members of the
security forces, three
U.S. military
contractors, and 10
civilians. The highest
profile captive is
former Colombian
presidential candidate
Ingrid Betancourt, a
dual Colombian-French
citizen, who will have
spent six years in
captivity as of
February.
Never before has the
plight of the FARC
hostages drawn so much
international attention.
"Mr. President, with all
due respect, I ask you,
just as you are able to
embrace your children,
to allow us through a
humanitarian accord to
come out alive and
embrace our parents,"
says a message from
Pablo Emilio delivered
by the guerrillas on
Jul. 3.
The FARC are holding the
hostages with the aim of
exchanging them for
around 500 imprisoned
guerrillas, who are
serving sentences of up
to 80 years in prison
even though life
imprisonment does not
exist in the Colombian
justice system.
Through a communiqué
sent to the Cuban news
agency Prensa Latina,
the FARC leadership
announced Tuesday that
they would release
Betancourt’s former
running-mate, lawyer
Clara Rojas, her
four-year-old son
Emmanuel, who was born
in captivity, and
Consuelo González, a
former legislator who
has been held captive
since September 2001.
"I receive this
announcement with all
the joy that can fit in
my heart, a heart that
has been aggrieved for
so long," said Clara de
Rojas, Emmanuel’s
grandmother.
The rebels said the
release of the three
hostages was an act of
"compensation" for the
frustrated efforts by
Venezuelan President
Hugo Chávez and
Colombian Senator Piedad
Córdoba, whose role as
official facilitators of
a prisoner-hostage
exchange was abruptly
cut short by Colombian
President Álvaro Uribe
on Nov. 21, triggering a
diplomatic crisis
between the two
governments.
"This gesture of
willingness by the FARC
awakens in us a ray of
hope that the release of
the rest of the hostages
can be achieved," said
Moncayo.
He said he has no doubts
that the FARC reached
its decision "thanks to
the huge efforts and the
combined work" of Chávez
and Córdoba.
Córdoba said Wednesday
during a visit to
Washington that she and
Chávez had actually
secured a commitment
from the FARC to
unilaterally release 25,
not just three,
hostages, before the
negotiations were cut
off.
The group could have
included Moncayo’s son,
because Chávez
specifically asked for
the inclusion of
Emmanuel, any hostages
who are sick, and the
hostages who have spent
the longest time in
captivity.
For Moncayo and the rest
of his family, the
unexpected news that
Chávez’s role as
facilitator had been cut
short "was enormously
frustrating. Everything
that was happening, that
we had been working so
hard for, was brought to
an end because of the
arrogance of people who,
in one way or another,
are determining the fate
of our loved ones," he
said.
When Uribe’s sudden
decision was announced,
Moncayo was on the
second day of his peace
trek towards Caracas,
from Bogota.
From mid-June to Aug. 1,
he walked 1,308 km from
his town, Sandoná, at
the southwestern tip of
Colombia, to the
capital. Wherever he
went, thousands of
people came out to greet
him and cheer him on.
He then headed to
Europe, visiting 15
French cities, as well
as Italy and Spain, in a
mobile home as part of
his campaign for a
prisoner-hostage swap.
Moncayo said he was
making this effort "with
great love, patience and
perseverance, from the
grassroots, touching the
hearts of Colombians,
seeking to sensitise
governments and the
people of other
countries, of Europeans,
of people around the
world."
But for Carlos Lozano,
director of the
Communist weekly
publication Voz and a
close follower of the
hostage negotiations,
the imminent release of
the two women and young
boy is "a gesture of
goodwill" that "will not
affect the rest of the
hostages."
"This will not speed up
the negotiations, nor
will it generate a
favourable atmosphere
for continued talks,"
said Lozano.
"That’s the negative
aspect. This move does
not mean that either
side is budging" in its
position, he added.
The FARC have rejected
the creation of a 150
square km demilitarised
"meeting zone" for a
hostage-prisoner
exchange, as suggested
by the Catholic Church
and accepted by Uribe on
Dec. 7, in the midst of
heavy international
pressure.
Instead, they are
standing firm by their
demand -- which Uribe
refuses -- for the
withdrawal of security
forces from two southern
Colombian
municipalities, Pradera
and Florida, which have
a total combined
territory of 760 square
km.
Thus, "the only way for
this to move forward is
for the FARC to give up
their demand for the
demilitarisation of
those areas or for Uribe
to approve it," which is
not "a possible
scenario," said Lozano.
Representatives of the
Church "have not even
been able to make
contact with the FARC to
give them a letter
asking to meet with
them," he said.
The guerrillas "are full
of mistrust after the
capture of the three
messengers," he added,
referring to the Nov. 29
arrest of two women and
a man carrying documents
showing that at least 17
of the hostages are
still alive. The videos
and letters gathered by
the FARC at the request
of the facilitators were
to be delivered to
Chávez.
"No one wants to be the
messenger who carries
that letter, to be
arrested and then sent
to the United States,"
said Lozano. The two
women who were captured
are facing the risk of
extradition to the
United States.
"Nobody dares to do it,"
Bishop Luis Augusto
Castro, president of the
Colombian bishops’
conference, told Lozano.
Nevertheless, in
Moncayo’s view, "we have
to continue forward,
continue providing our
support, with a lot of
trust, patience and
passion."
"The important thing is
to gain the support of
the public," he
stressed.
The main thing is "not
for us -- because we are
buried in tears,
entreaties and suffering
-- but for the people,
the entire world, to
demand that the
president and the FARC
negotiate a solution to
this. We are tired of
the violence," said
Moncayo. |
