Colombian FARC to formally enter politics

By Richard McColl

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - The FARC will formally enter politics and reveal the name of its new entity next month, the group said Monday.

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) spokesperson Carlos Antonio Lozado confirmed talks regarding the group’s politics and who it will back in the next presidential elections set for next March are at “an advanced stage”.

In the coming days the FARC is expected to prepare an estimated 61-point agenda it wants to present to Congress. The former rebel group will also soon announce its nominees for five seats in the Senate and five others in Congress that were granted as a condition of the peace agreement signed last year.

As the FARC completes its transition from an armed guerrilla group to a political party, its main concern is a repeat of the genocide in the 1980s when the group entered politics as the Patriotic Union and an estimated 3,500 members were assassinated.

“We have had various, as many as six from our group and including family members, who have been killed,” Ivan Márquez, member of the FARC secretariat, said at the news conference. “It would be sad if, in Colombia, we returned to the terrible times similar to when alternative political parties such as the Patriotic Union were eliminated.”

The FARC’s formal entry into politics will occur days before Pope Francis visit Colombia in September.

There is a great deal of expectation surrounding his visit as the government and Colombia’s second guerrilla group, National Liberation Army (ELN), are engaged in peace talks in Quito, Ecuador.

The two sides are expected to reach a bilateral cease-fire in accordance with the pope’s visit.