For supporting the peace process with the FARC in Colombia, Pepe Mujica was recognized by the UN

One of the most charismatic leaders in recent Latin American history has undoubtedly been the former Uruguayan president Pepe Mujica, only Thursday, February 16 received recognition from the United Nations (UN) for the support it provided during the process by which the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) abandoned the armed struggle.

“We didn’t do anything other than what we had to do, because I feel like I belong in Colombia, because it’s our America”, said the referent of the Broad Front, the left-wing coalition that governed Uruguay between 2005 and 2020.

Mujica, who served as his country’s head of state for the period 2010-2015, received the recognition in a ceremony held at the auditorium of the University of the Republic in Montevideo, where the person in charge of handing over the commemorative plaque was the same responsible for the reintegration of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia, Priests of Alexander.

The politician, who is characterized by his simplicity, He recalled having understood very early “that the struggle for peace was the most revolutionary thing that could be proposed in Colombia”, for which he offered “a helping hand” to the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos. (2010-2018), who signed the peace agreement with the extinct guerrillas.

“Santos had moved me because in the end he had been a war commander who had learned from the war itself that it was an impossible mission. and that we must put an end to this logic”, he asserted, to which he acknowledged that there were still “many wounds which conspired against peace” and summed up his contribution as “we have done this as we could”.

“You don’t have to thank me for Colombia, it’s a shame we’re late, we couldn’t, but there’s still an outstanding task. Material realities can be easily changed but (…) what must be banished (in this country) is the exit from the short path by violence, which ends up being the longest”he reflected during the event.

After admitting that recognition “does not go to his head”, the former Uruguayan guerrilla, imprisoned for nearly 15 years before being released at the end of the Uruguayan civil-military dictatorship (1973-1985), He ended his speech, to a standing ovation from the audience, with “it’s worth having causes to live for”.

The ceremony also included interventions by journalist María Alejandra Villamizar and former secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Cepal) Enrique Iglesias.

“He was officially named by the signatories of the peace as notable, that is to say an eminent personality, accompanied by the former president (of the Spanish government) Felipe Gonzalez. He cautiously accompanied (…) and was very aware of the challenges of establishing peace in a country he loves very much, such as Colombia”, highlighted Preti.

Last Tuesday, February 14, The former Uruguayan president met with Colombia’s ambassador to Argentina, Camilo Romero, and they recorded a video that the diplomatic representative posted on the official Twitter account, where the former president expressed his support for the reforms that the president, Gustavo Petro, is seeking to implement.

“Do not be afraid of reforms. Conversely, no government can do magic if its people don’t understand it. Do what is possible in this great country you have, which does not deserve to have had such a bitter history over the past 60 years,” Mujica said.

Similarly, he evokes the question of health reform and evokes the experience of his country on the question of free access to health: “the health it must be for everyone and it must have the guarantee that it exists for everyone”, as well as education, because – he stressed – “these are not questions of left or right , these are questions of elementary humanity of humanity. progress”.

(With information from EFE)