Itagüí (Colombia), June 2nd. The Colombian government and leaders of illegal armed groups operating in Medellín and the Aburrá Valley set up a dialogue table this Friday in La Paz de Itagüí prison, within the framework of the policy of total peace, with the aim of reaching more than 12,000 Demobilize people and end the war in the communes.
In an area of the prison suitable for the crime, the judicial coordinator of the Mission in Support of the Peace Process in Colombia (MAPP) of the Organization of American States (OAS), Daniel Millares, was responsible for initiating this “peace process urban” with the reading of a joint one Declaration signed between the representatives of the government and the organized armed structures.
In turn, the Colombian High Commissioner for Peace, Danilo Rueda, specified that this new phase creates a “social-legal dialogue space” aimed at making “progress” towards a comprehensive peace in a region affected by urban conflict.
“Today we are at a significant moment for the millions of residents of Medellín and the Aburrá Valley,” Rueda explained, adding that the criminal gangs “are aware of the common challenge and know that their delegate spokesmen and we in… must be able to build it.” the holistic peace that neighborhoods and communities dream of.”
UNPRECEDENTED PROCESS
He pointed out that after a nine-month cycle of rapprochement, they face a “very big” challenge as it is an “unprecedented process” that could involve more than 12,000 demobilized if negotiations are successful.
“We don’t know how long it will take, it could be two or three years,” the commissioner said of the talks, which witnessed members of the Swiss and Norwegian embassies and which he assured will be open from now on would, for “nothing will remain hidden” and “nothing will go unpunished”.
Rueda also announced that the government’s negotiating team will be coordinated by lawyer Jorge Iván Mejía, former secretary of the Medellín government, who will be accompanied by Senator Isabel Zuleta, former truth commissioner Lucía González and leader María Isela Quintero.
Mejía pointed out that it was “impossible” to set a deadline for the negotiations and assured that all major criminal structures are “part of this exercise” to a “very high percentage, not to say 100%”.
PATH OF PEACE AND RECONCILIATION
Just as on April 28, when they issued a statement announcing the cessation of hostilities and expressing their interest in the policy of total peace, the criminal gangs confirmed that they are accepting the “invitation” of the government of Gustavo Petro, These dialogues begin without there being any legal framework to “clarify the socio-legal situation of the members of these structures”, said Sebastián Murillo, one of the delegates of the criminal gangs.
Murillo, known as “Lindolfo”, a director of the Oficina de Envigado, suggested that this day could be “another date or the beginning of a change of direction” in Medellín and the Aburrá Valley.
“Today we enter this space without any political affiliation with the only hope of changing our personal stories and the history of the country. Those of us present here have seen the face of war and know how far this painful journey will take us. That is why we want to try a different path, that of peace, forgiveness and reconciliation,” he explained.
The main speakers of the organized armed structures participating at the discussion table include Juan Carlos Mesa Vallejo (aka “Tom”), Jorge de Jesús Vallejo Alarcón (aka “Vallejo”), Gustavo Adolfo Pérez Peña (aka “El Montañero”), Juan Camilo Rendón Castro (aka “el Saya”), Albert Antonio Henao Acevedo (aka “Albert”), Freiner Alfonso Ramírez García, aka (“Carlos Pesebre”) and Mauricio de Jesús Morales Múnera.