Government knew FARC leader would not attend 1999 peace talks ceremony: Official
Government knew FARC leader would not attend 1999 peace talks ceremony: Official
Oct 8, 2014 posted by Craig Corbett
The Colombian government knew beforehand that FARC leader “Manuel Marulanda” would not appear at the opening ceremony of failed peace talks that began in 1999, but has kept this quiet deliberately, the country’s former peace commissioner said Wednesday.
One of the most poignant moments was seen at the opening ceremony of the peace talks on January 7 1999, when former president Andres Pastrana addressed the crowd with an empty seat at his side, which should have been filled by the FARC leader Manuel Marulanda.
According to former Peace Commissioner Victor Ricaro, he and the former president were made aware by FARC leader that he would not be attending the peace talks more than a week in advance, due to planned assassination of Ricardo and Marulanda by paramilitary forces.
Until now, common belief has been that the FARC leader had snubbed the talks with no prior notice to the former president.
“He (Marulanda) said that that intention was to kill me and if it was not possible to kill Marulanda on the day of the ceremony. Either death would have seen the end of the peace talks. … with that information Marulanda called me and told me that he would not attend and that he would send representatives to negotiate, as the risk of the murders would be too damaging to the process,” said the then-Peace Commissioner.
More:
http://colombiareports.co/government-knew-farc-leader-attend-1999-peace-talks-ceremony-official/
