Bogotá, Colombia, Feb 8, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Cardinal Pedro Rubiano, Archbishop of Bogotá and President of the Colombian Bishops Conference, responded to the surprising request of the National Liberation Amy (ELN) for the mediation of the Church in an eventual dialogue with the government by calling on the guerrilla group to demonstrate its desire for peace with concrete actions.
The ELN is the second largest guerrilla group in the country, after the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC), and it also is currently holding dozens of people hostage.
The ELN’s central command sent a letter to the bishops who were gathered for their plenary assembly calling for dialogue on the humanitarian crisis facing the country.
Furthermore, the letter calls for a return to “a national dialogue with wide participation,” and in an unexpected reversal of their usual position, the ELN called for “a political solution to the conflict as the way in which to bring peace to the country.”