Bogotá, Colombia, Aug 31, 2005 / 22:00 pm
The President of the Colombian Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Luis Augusto Castro of Tunja, said this week he has not received any response from the Marxist rebel group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) regarding the Church’s proposal to mediate negotiations with the group.
Despite having received no response, the archbishop said he was optimistic. “It’s a good sign because when they see a proposal that is illogical and makes no sense, they respond immediately with a ‘no’ and so this means that they could be considering the proposal and will give a response in due time.”
Regarding the possibility of holding pre-negotiations outside of Colombia, Archbishop Castro added, “It’s not a bad idea to insist on discussions in another country in order to avoid the issue of location and to find a way to establish that humanitarian exchange.”