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In the middle of a hearing before the JEP, Rodrigo Londoño Echeverry, known as ‘Timochenko’, the leader of the Comunes party revealed this Wednesday that several years ago the guerrilla group had planned an attack against then-president Juan Manuel Santos.
Londoño, in recent days, had made another mention of the former president in a call that he made, in an open letter, to meet with President Iván Duque to save the peace agreement.
On Thursday night, in another open letter to Rodrigo Londoño, former President Juan Manuel Santos responded to the letter and Londoño’s statement before the Jep. He also said that he would be willing to meet with President Iván Duque on the implementation of peace, inviting the UN and the guarantors.
This is the letter from the former president.
Mr. Rodrigo Londoño
Chairman of the Commons Party
Dear Mr. Londoño:
In answering your last letter I must confess that I was moved. I share his anguish and his pain over the clearly condemnable and unacceptable death of his former comrades in struggle who laid down their arms in good faith. I also share the pain of all the victims of the armed conflict, the pain of the families of our soldiers and police officers and, at this recent juncture, that of the victims of kidnappings who are reliving their dramas with the stories and accusations of the JEP .
Regarding the latter, I hope that you recognize your authorship and responsibility to contribute to heal the wounds, and that the JEP continues to do its work with those most responsible for atrocious crimes of all parties involved in the conflict. It is an unprecedented transitional justice process that the world applauds, supports and admires.
Among the multiple failures, gaps and breaches in the implementation of the peace accords, the most worrying, without a doubt, are the assassinations of former FARC guerrillas and social leaders. And it is not the fault of the agreements, as some have wanted to suggest, but of their lack of implementation, which is in charge of the governments of the day. We were totally aware that the end of the war with the FARC would not eliminate other sources of violence and, for this reason, point 3.4 on security guarantees was specifically included. Compliance with this point (or the 13 sub-points specified there) would solve the problem, but this requires leadership, coordination capacity and political will.
(What’s more: HRW considers the response to violence against social leaders as slow)
The Government is responsible for the public order and security of all Colombians, among which the ex-guerrillas who are loyally complying with the agreements must be in the front line, due to their vulnerability, along with social leaders, many of whom are killing for promoting the voluntary substitution of illicit crops or the return of land to displaced peasants, or for opposing deforestation or illegal mining.
President Duque and his government must listen to the many voices that demand more decisive and effective action to protect them.
Let’s show this polarized world that Colombia can act responsibly and put the country above political interests
The latest report on this matter, published this week, as dramatic as it is devastating, was that of Human Rights Watch, which joins other claims by important voices such as those of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, those of the Council itself. of Security, those of the British Parliament, those of the European Parliament, those of the Democratic congressmen from Washington, those of Amnesty International, among many others. The new Biden government has already prioritized the implementation of peace and human rights in bilateral relations. And it is very telling that even the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, told President Duque directly last Tuesday on his daily television program that “the comprehensive implementation of the peace agreement is a key tool to address the emergency of the covid-19 “.
(Read also: After HRW’s harsh report on leaders, Government meets with Vivanco)
Nobody, nobody would understand that the Government remained deaf and in a state of denial in the face of this avalanche of criticism and demands for the peace accords to be fulfilled, in particular the issue of security, because there is a danger that Colombia will slip away back to the dire list of pariah countries, with all that this implies, after having managed to get out of that muddy swamp with so much effort and difficulty. The same thing happens on the economic front: if the necessary reforms are not made, we will lose investment grade, with the immense costs that this means. The prestige of people and countries is built in a long time and with a lot of effort, but they are undone very quickly and with great ease.
I remember specifically telling them that killing me would be part of the rules of the game, and – of course – vice versa. So it would not have been ‘unethical’, but I appreciate the gesture.
My commitment to peace is growing every day because every day I learn more and every day I reaffirm that peace among Colombians, among the nations of the world and with nature is the only thing that will allow us to leave a better future for the next generations. . What I said to you in Cuba the first time we shook hands, that my commitment to what we signed would be sacred and until the last day of my existence, it remains more valid than ever.
September 22, 2015, Juan Manuel Santos and Rodrigo Londoño, alias Timochenko, shook hands in Havana after reaching an agreement at the point of transitional justice.
ALEJANDRO ERNESTO / EFE
And despite so many setbacks and difficulties, I remain convinced that peace between us is irreversible.
My relations with President Duque are not the best. He has dedicated himself to governing with a rear-view mirror, but a mirror of those that distort the image, of those that make see the skinny fat and the skinny fat, and has chosen, strangely, not to mention my name.
In a kind of Orwellian punishment, or as a condemnation in the style of the ancient gods of Greek mythology, for the President of the republic this humble servant simply does not exist. How curious … and even funny! For my part, I have tried to remain silent about what this government does or does not do because I do not think that it is in the country ‘s interest for former presidents to dedicate themselves to beating their successors. And I say this because I suffered it firsthand and it did not do the country any good. What’s more, at the junction I put myself at your disposal. Later, I offered my modest contest to face the catastrophe of the pandemic, I made concrete offers to help Providencia, and through various means and at various times I proposed to the President to unite Colombians around the implementation of peace, thereby others are legally and morally obligated, and that I would be the first to do my bit if required. There was never the slightest echo.
I tell you the above because you ask me in your letter to meet with President Duque. It would be ideal, but I’m not under any illusions. I hope to be wrong. I have always believed that when circumstances and the country demand it, we must all put aside our differences, prejudices, partisan positions and other feelings that feed polarization, to work together for higher goals. It is responsible. Peace is undoubtedly one of those goals. I have repeated this on several occasions. So I have no problem having that meeting with the president. I’ll do it with pleasure.
Just as I fought them without truce or quarter, now I will defend their lives and the agreements to the swash. Because it is not only the pawned word of the Colombian State, but because it is the right thing to do
A signal from the Palacio de Nariño is enough to proceed to formally request the meeting through the regular channels. It occurs to me that we could be accompanied by two of our negotiators. For my part, it would be Humberto de la Calle, the head of the negotiations, and General Óscar Naranjo, who was in charge of negotiating, together with other members of our Armed Forces, point 3.4, and who knows the most about the guarantees. of security established in the agreement. You would choose yours. The President, as host, would be with whom he determines, of course. We could discuss the implementation of the agreements in general and the issue of security in particular. The UN and guarantors could be invited. Any progress would be a blessing for peace and for the country.
In Mesetas, Meta, one of the processes of laying down arms of the Farc concluded.
Raúl Arboleda / AFP
Finally, I refer to what you told the JEP when you acknowledged the murder of Álvaro Gómez: that they had prepared an attack against me and that they did not carry it out for “ethical” reasons. It was not the only one and it would not have been “unethical.” I myself imposed the rules of the game, which you accepted: we negotiate in the middle of the war as if there were no war, and we continue in the war as if there were no negotiations. I named it the Rabin doctrine, because that is how this great Israeli prime minister negotiated peace with Arafat, which incidentally cost him his life. I admit that you have always asked for a ceasefire and I refused on the grounds that the dog is not coated twice. I warned them that there would be a ceasefire only when we reached concrete agreements. And I remember specifically telling them that killing me would be part of the rules of the game, and – of course – vice versa. So it would not have been “unethical”, but I appreciate the gesture.
I was not so magnanimous and that is why I authorized the operations against all the members of the Farc considered high value targets, including that of ‘Alfonso Cano’. More than thirty of its commanders were captured or discharged. We never had enough intelligence against you, but you would have authorized it. They were the rules of war, that abominable war that we ended in good time. There was an operation against a member of the secretariat that I did not authorize.
Someday I will tell who it is and why.
But look at what life is like. After trying to kill us for so long, we are now fighting for peace together. Sometimes it seems more difficult, right? Just as I fought them without truce or quarter, now I will defend their lives and the agreements to the sword. Because it is not only the promise of the Colombian State, which we are all obliged to fulfill, but because it is the right thing to do. I will end with the words I spoke at the Teatro Colón: let’s show this polarized world that Colombia can act responsibly and put the country above political interests; because, as Bertolt Brecht said, “every life is sacred and every war is a defeat.”
Cordially,
Juan Manuel Santos
(Read on: ‘The Peace Agreement is more like death’: Rodrigo Londoño)
