Three hours late and after two postponements, the High Commissioner for Peace, Danilo Rueda, set up the so-called table for socio-legal dialogue with the illegal gangs of Medellín and Valle de Aburrá this Friday. The event, held at the La Paz Prison Center, was attended by the head of the United Nations Verification Mission, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, and Daniel Millares, MAPP-OEA representative, who was in charge of reading the joint statement. Government mediators were also present: former truth commissioner Lucía González; former government secretary of Antioquia, Jorge Martínez; Historical Pact Senator Isabel Cristina Zuleta; and the leader of Commune 8 (Vista Hermosa), María Gisela Quintero.
The room began with a few words from Priest Jaime Henao Franco. A video message from Justice Minister Néstor Osuna was then broadcast, followed by statements from Rueda and some moderators. Later it was the turn of the delegation from the armed structures, about 19 men between the ages of 30 and 50, wearing uniforms and white T-shirts. One of them announced who their main speakers will be: the well-known leader of “La Oficina”, Juan Carlos Mesa, aka Tom, and his bandmate Freyner Ramírez García, known as Carlos Pesebre; Gustavo Adolfo Pérez Peña and Jorge de Jesus Vallejo, members of the “Los Mesa” structure; Albert Henao Acevedo, from Los Pachelly; and Juan Camilo Rendón, among others from “La Terraza”.
Jorge Iván Mejía Martínez speaks with Senator Isabel Cristina and High Commissioner for Peace in Colombia Danilo RuedaLuis Eduardo Noriega A. (EFE)
At the end of the performance, Sebastián Murillo Echeverry, alias Lindolfo and leader of the band “Caicedo”, associated with “La Oficina”, took over the microphone. “We flew into space without any political affiliation and in hopes of changing our personal stories and the history of the country. Those of us who are here have seen the face of war and know how far this arduous journey will take us. That is why we want to try a different path, that of peace, forgiveness and reconciliation,” he explained.
The formal installation of this table had been delayed for more than four months because the Office of the High Commissioner had finalized the decrees for the appointment of its mediators, the transfer of various gang leaders to the same prison, etc., according to sources close to the Dialogues We have agreed with them on a draft verification protocol that will be published in a few weeks.
Relatives and friends of inmates gather outside the La Paz Maximum Security Prison in Itagüí on June 2. Luis Eduardo Noriega A. (EFE)
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This commitment to urban peace, one of the Petro administration’s most ambitious, which aims to demobilize more than 12,000 men, began nine months ago. So far it has been criticized by various social organizations and victim movements in the region. They asked the government to involve them from the start. To this, Senator Zuleta, in an interview with El PAÍS, replied that this would happen, but only if guarantees could be given.
At the conclusion of the protocol law, a mobilization was called in the neighboring municipality of Bello to support the initiative promoted by the municipalities of this area. For the journalist Juan Diego Restrepo from the Verdad Abierta portal, who has been investigating the conflict in the region for years, the installation does not clear up all the questions. “There is still a lot of ambiguity about the methods of conversation, how the relationship of these deprived men with the people on the street will be handled and what means of communication they will use.” While important, it was a change of heart amidst a crisis environment for the government,” he told EL PAÍS.
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