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News > Colombia

UN Secretary Arrives In Colombia For Peace Accord Anniversary

  • United Nations Secretary Antonio Guterres, November 2021.

    United Nations Secretary Antonio Guterres, November 2021. | Photo: EFE

Published 23 November 2021
Opinion

Antonio Guterres urged the Colombian state to guarantee the security of the social leaders and ex-guerilla fighters who are being assassinated by paramilitary gangs.

On Wednesday, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will attend activities related to the commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the Peace Agreement signed between the Colombian State and the Revolutionary Armed Fores of Colombia (FARC).

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"Guterres’ presence in Colombia is a message for its people and government to persist on the path of peace and reconciliation," UN representative Carlos Ruiz stated.

The U.N. Secretary will visit the Space for Training and Reintegration (ETCR) in Dabeiba City, in which authorities built houses and developed apprenticeship workshops so that ex-guerrilla fighters could start peaceful new lives.

From Dabeiba, he will travel to Apartado City to visit a child development center and tour an entrepreneurship fair developed by victims of violence who produced hats, footwear, soaps, cocoa, coffee, and panela.

Guterres will also visit the headquarters of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), the ad hoc tribunal created to judge crimes against humanity during the armed conflict, which has left at least 215,005 civilians dead so far.

"The absence of a State presence in rural areas creates difficulties in reaching the 2016 Peace Agreement commitments," Guterres insisted, recalling that international drug trafficking encourages the continuation of armed conflicts in this South American country.

Despite the Peace Agreement, 1,270 ex-guerrilla fighters and human rights defenders have been killed since 2016 due to paramilitary gangs dedicated to drug trafficking activities. 

"It is necessary to guarantee the full protection of social leaders and former FARC members, who gave a reconciliation and peace example to the world," Guterres acknowledged.

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