The World Council of Churches has expressed concern over an upsurge in violence in Colombia, saying it can only “weaken the shaky foundations” on which the recent peace accord was built.
The resumption of violence has followed the expiry of a ceasefire which held since October last year and the suspension of negotiations between the Colombian Government and the National Liberation Army (ELN). The two parties have been in talks since February last year to end their ongoing conflict but President Juan Manuel Santos suspended the talks after a series of attacks.
Prof Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, deputy general secretary of the WCC, said that in light of recent events including a deadly attack on a police station in Barranquilla, the bombing of an indigenous reservation in Choco province, and a recent wave of assassinations of social leaders, “the WCC expresses its concern for the continuation and fulfilment of the peace process in Colombia”.
“Resorting again to violence cannot strengthen the cause of peace, but can only weaken the shaky foundations of mutual trust on which peace must be built.”
Representatives of the WCC have been undertaking a series of “solidarity visits” to communities in Colombia which continue to be affected by violence and marginalisation as part of its focus this year on a Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace in the Latin American and Caribbean region.
The WCC is appealing to all parties to refrain from further violence and to return to dialogue and for prayer for peace in the nation.
The Colombian Government signed a peace agreement with a larger guerilla group, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in late 2016. That group is now a political party and fielding candidates in an upcoming congressional election.
