Santos Reaffirms Will to Achieve Peace in Colombia

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos asserted today the will to advance in the peace negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People”s Army and thanked the role of Cuba as venue of those meetings. In his address to the 22nd plenary session of the Ibero-American Summit here, Santos said his government considered conditions are ready to put an end to the half a century long conflict, the only one still ongoing in Latin America.

We base our talks on the principles of dignity and prudence and thank nations like Cuba, along with Norway, who have served as hosts of this process, which might be joined by other states such as Chile and Brazil, he said.

The Colombian Government wants peace, and it won’t be because our intrnasigence that the long-awaited results are not reached, he said before leaders of 22 Latin American countries, Portugal and Spain.

We will watch closely for a reasonable time the development of the peace talks and, if necessary, we will ask for help to other nations in Latin America, he said.

Santos also made a call for Ibero American unity to make progress social security and justice, and said his State will support any initiative aimed to solve the problem of the economic crisis affecting Spain and Portugal.

Indeed, one of the main topics of discussion at the summit is the recession in Europe and the role of Latin America, including its participation with investments and opening of markets.

Some 3,000 police agents and the Civil Guard are in charge of the security of the Summit, whose next venue will be Panama.