Ibero-American Summit text pits Cuba, Venezuela against Colombia
Editorial | EFE News
Salamanca, Spain, Oct 14 (EFE).- An Ibero-American Summit declaration
supporting the peace process in Colombia and condemning terrorism sparked
objections from Cuba and Venezuela, Latin American diplomatic sources told
EFE on Friday.
Cuba and Venezuela objected to describing as "illegal" and "terrorist" the
armed groups active in Colombia - Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC) guerrillas in particular - which the two nations prefer to call
"irregular," according to sources who requested anonymity. But that term was
rejected by most of the Ibero-American delegations, which shared Colombia's
position that the groups are rightly called "terrorist," and also expressed
political support for President Alvaro Uribe's peace efforts.
The Colombian president instructed his foreign minister, Carolina Barco, not
to sign any declaration that is not clear in its definition of "terrorist
groups." "If they (alluding to the FARC) are not described as terrorists, we
won't sign that, period. You can't call 'irregulars' those who set off car
bombs," Uribe told the foreign minister in a telephone conversation that EFE
witnessed.
To call them "irregulars" would be to recognize that the Colombian conflict
involves two internationally recognized parties, Latin American diplomatic
sources told EFE.
In the course of Friday's session, the foreign ministers will attempt to
come up with wording that satisfies all the delegations. Though on Thursday
it was named among the 15 "special communications" appended to the
"Declaration of Salamanca" to be issued at the end of the two-day meeting,
it was the only one not released to the press because it had not yet been
agreed on. On Thursday, Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo told a group of
journalists of his "firm and unambiguous" rejection of terrorism, "of
whatever kind it is and wherever it comes from."
Among the 15 resolutions scheduled to be adopted along with the Declaration
of Salamanca at the 15th Ibero-American Summit, one decries impunity for
those who commit terrorist acts and supports "efforts to achieve extradition
and bring to trial the person responsible for the terrorist attack that
killed 73 people on a Cubana de Aviacion plane in October 1976," a reference
to anti-Castro activist Luis Posada Carriles, currently detained in the
United States. EFE va/mp
http://www.vcrisis.com/index.php?content=letters/200510141119
Editorial | EFE News
Salamanca, Spain, Oct 14 (EFE).- An Ibero-American Summit declaration
supporting the peace process in Colombia and condemning terrorism sparked
objections from Cuba and Venezuela, Latin American diplomatic sources told
EFE on Friday.
Cuba and Venezuela objected to describing as "illegal" and "terrorist" the
armed groups active in Colombia - Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC) guerrillas in particular - which the two nations prefer to call
"irregular," according to sources who requested anonymity. But that term was
rejected by most of the Ibero-American delegations, which shared Colombia's
position that the groups are rightly called "terrorist," and also expressed
political support for President Alvaro Uribe's peace efforts.
The Colombian president instructed his foreign minister, Carolina Barco, not
to sign any declaration that is not clear in its definition of "terrorist
groups." "If they (alluding to the FARC) are not described as terrorists, we
won't sign that, period. You can't call 'irregulars' those who set off car
bombs," Uribe told the foreign minister in a telephone conversation that EFE
witnessed.
To call them "irregulars" would be to recognize that the Colombian conflict
involves two internationally recognized parties, Latin American diplomatic
sources told EFE.
In the course of Friday's session, the foreign ministers will attempt to
come up with wording that satisfies all the delegations. Though on Thursday
it was named among the 15 "special communications" appended to the
"Declaration of Salamanca" to be issued at the end of the two-day meeting,
it was the only one not released to the press because it had not yet been
agreed on. On Thursday, Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo told a group of
journalists of his "firm and unambiguous" rejection of terrorism, "of
whatever kind it is and wherever it comes from."
Among the 15 resolutions scheduled to be adopted along with the Declaration
of Salamanca at the 15th Ibero-American Summit, one decries impunity for
those who commit terrorist acts and supports "efforts to achieve extradition
and bring to trial the person responsible for the terrorist attack that
killed 73 people on a Cubana de Aviacion plane in October 1976," a reference
to anti-Castro activist Luis Posada Carriles, currently detained in the
United States. EFE va/mp
http://www.vcrisis.com/index.php?content=letters/200510141119
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