President Gustavo Petro met yesterday with Pope Francis in the Vatican. At the audience, Petro proposed to the pontiff that the Vatican host a cycle of dialogue between the Colombian Government and the ELN. “We have talked about peace in Colombia,” said the Colombian president.
During his visit to Pope Francis, the president, Gustavo Petro, presented an innovative proposal to the pontiff, suggesting the possibility of carrying out a series of negotiations with the National Liberation Army (ELN) in the Vatican.
In statements to the media after his meeting with Pope Francis, Petro shared the idea of holding a round of negotiations in the Vatican, considering that this scenario could lead to more significant progress in the process of disarmament and abandonment of violence by of the Eln.
“It is possible that we will make a round here, we will talk with the ELN, that we can build an even deeper step in ending violence. “With a scenario like this it would seem very suggestive for the entire Colombian society,” said the head of state.
More details
Likewise, Petro revealed that the pontiff agrees to take deeper steps in the peace agreements. Furthermore, he highlighted the fundamental role that the Catholic Church has played in Colombia in supporting the peace processes.
During the meeting, the participation of the Catholic movement of the Community of San Egidio, which has extensive experience in peace processes in Central America, Africa and Colombia, was also addressed. Although he did not reveal details about his possible participation in these negotiations, Petro highlighted the importance of this movement in promoting peace.
Gifts
The hearing between Petro and Francisco lasted approximately 35 minutes. The president gave the Supreme Pontiff a ruana and Colombian coffee. For his part, the bishop of Rome gave the official a work sculpted in the Vatican with an outstretched hand comforting another, a woman with a child in her arms and in the background a boat with several people on board. He has a message carved in Latin: “Let us fill our hands with other hands.”
Pleasant relationship
Finally, President Gustavo Petro assured that there is a very close relationship with the pope that will be maintained. “We have enormous sympathy for the pope. We have agreed, even from a political point of view, not only a religious one. In his encyclicals he was absolutely inspiring around this topic of the new relationship of the human being with nature and the last Fratelli Tuti that, practically, proposes how we defend in Colombia the exit of a regime that we call neoliberal that has weakened the states that have handed over “So, societies under mafia control throughout South America”he pointed out.
