AMERICA/COLOMBIA - A second agreement has been reached, the Church proposes "a policy of reconciliation for definitive peace"

Bogota (Agenzia Fides) - The Catholic Church believes that in order to achieve true reconciliation and authentic peace in Colombia "one must go forward on issues such as the equitable distribution of land and achieve authentic economic development" (the first agreement between the government and FARC, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and "prepare possible scenarios for forgiveness in all sectors of society". These principles are expressed in the book entitled "Minimal proposals for reconciliation and peace in Colombia", made by the Colombian Episcopal Conference and presented on November 6 , which summarizes the eight minimal points for a national agreement .
The note sent to Fides Agency reports that it was Cardinal Ruben Salazar Gomez, Archbishop of Bogota, who presented a-90-page book, the result of an extensive consultation that began in 2009, involving all actors in the social, economic, policy of the country. The eight points are: a policy of reconciliation and peace; rights to a decent life and to build a policy of equality; integral agrarian reform; fundamental right to education; democracy and transparency in the use of public resources; decentralization and territorial development; productive sustainable alternatives; citizen participation.
The next day (November 7) the text of the second part of the agreements reached in the dialogues between the government and FARC was published in Havana: the guerrilla accepts disarmament in exchange for a "Statute of guarantees" to exercise political opposition in general and, in particular, "for the new movements that will arise after the signing of the final agreement". This includes guaranteed spaces in the media, institutional reforms to facilitate the establishment of political parties, guarantees of transparency of electoral processes. In a few days, always in Havana, discussions will begin on the third point of 5 proposals of the agenda, on illegal drugs, therefore we will discuss how to compensate the victims of the conflict, and finally the mechanisms to submit the text of the final agreement to a referendum. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 08/11/2013)