The ELN delegation asked the Colombian government for the location and delivery of the remains of Camilo Torres

Let them deliver the remains of the priest Camilo Torres. This was the request of the National Liberation Army peace delegation –ELN— on the 57th anniversary of his death, which occurred during his first fight in the ranks of the guerrillas which are currently negotiating a peace agreement with the national government.

According to the delegation led by Paul Beltranthe State is primarily responsible for the disappearance of the body of the priest, who died in Cement plant, Santanderon February 15, 1966, and although the image of his corpse appeared in all the media in the country, his remains were never found.

In this regard, Beltrán also announced from Mexico that “this is a great opportunity for Gustavo Petro demonstrate the commitment with the memory and with the victims of this armed conflict, of which Camilo is a symbol of dignity and commitment with the social transformation of the country”.

Similarly, the delegation stated that this request had been made for years, but never received a response from the State; however, they hope that with President Petro’s government, this claim will be addressed. They even suggested that he should “personally lead” these research efforts.

Furthermore, the head of the ELN delegation argued that Camilo was not just “a student of the reality of domination” experienced by people from vulnerable communities; He was also “a Catholic priest who, out of conviction and with the freedom of his will and sacrifice, left behind the comforts of his social class to become a guerrilla”.

For his part, Antonio García, the first commander of this guerrilla, also spoke of the death of the sociologist, researcher and teacher. On his Twitter account, he recalled part of Camilo’s legacy, quoting certain passages from his text “in memory of Camilo Torres. Priest until eternity” written in 2006 and published by the Center for Miguel Enríquez Studies in Chile.

García pointed out that “the National Front’s oligarchic pact led Camilo to consider that ‘the lack of leaders in a country becomes all the more evident as the problems facing society are greater and more complex’ and recalled that one of Camilo’s convictions was based on the search for solutions other than violence to resolve conflicts.

According to General (r) of the army Alvaro Valencia Tovar, the remains of the priest were hidden in an “unthinkable” place. According to his testimony, which is part of the documentary Camilo’s TrailHe did not want his corpse to become a political flag, also because at that time the country had strong roots in the Catholic religion.

“I bought, with my funds, without an invoice, a funeral urn and I buried him in the most unimaginable place in the world”, underlined the retired high command, accentuating the doubt on the place where his body was left behind.

There is the theory that recogenizes the archives of Señal Memoria e indicates that su familia no ha recibido los restos, a que se une lo que el mismo Valencia Tovar señaló varios años después del combate donde murió el sacerdote: que fue dejado en un mausoleo de there 5th Army Brigade situated at Bucaramanga.

In this sense, the President of the Republic at the time, Juan Manuel Santosordered in January 2016 the search for this chest containing the remains of the priest as a purely symbolic gesture within the framework of the peace process which was carried out with the FARC guerrillas extinguished in Havana.

In addition, the prosecutor’s office promised to expand this work, but seven years later there is no certainty about the body of the leader who currently continues to be an emblem of various student, social and political sectors in Colombia. Now the ELN delegation has asked Petro to lead this work.