Colombia: Petro Replaces Military Commanders & Moves to Resume Peace Talks
HAVANA TIMES – Colombia’s new president, Gustavo Petro, has named new commanders to head Colombia’s military and police as part of a push to bring peace to the country. Petro, who is Colombia’s first-ever leftist leader, said he picked commanders who had never been accused of human rights violations.
President Gustavo Petro: “The new commanders that will lead Colombia’s public forces are aligned with the human security politics goals we promised and that we want to turn into a reality and evaluate in due time to know about its effectiveness to guarantee peace, to guarantee a decrease in violence and crime, to guarantee a substantial respect toward human rights and citizens’ freedoms as every democracy should.”
In other developments in Colombia, President Petro has taken steps to resume peace talks in Cuba with the ELN, Colombia’s largest remaining guerrilla group. Meanwhile, Colombia’s new vice president, Francia Márquez Mina, was symbolically sworn in by Indigenous and Afro-Colombian leaders in her hometown of Suárez on Saturday. Márquez is Colombia’s first Afro-Colombian female vice president.
Vice President Francia Márquez Mina: “Our commitment with peace is our most important commitment. An ethnic chapter was created for the Indigenous people and Afro-Colombians in the peace treaty signed by the government. I will be the person in charge of ensuring the ethnic chapter for peace will advance.”