Communist Revolutionary Begs Pope Francis' Forgiveness

"Timochenko" in letter to the pope: former terrorist group wants to renounce any expression of hatred or violence - Pope trip "will leave a deep impression on Colombia's history"

Bogota (kath.net/KAP) The leader of the Colombian ex-guerrilla FARC, Rodrigo Londono Echeverry, has asked Pope Francis for forgiveness in a letter for the suffering that his organization caused in more than 50 years of civil war. "Your repeated references to God's infinite mercy make me plead for forgiveness for any tears or pain that we have inflicted upon the Columbian people or its citizens," wrote the "Maximo Lider" in a Friday, in the Colombian media, to the Pope, who is still in the South American country until Sunday.

Londono alias "Timochenko" or "Timoleon Jimenez" apologized for not being able to meet the pope personally for health reasons. He assured him, however, that the FARC wanted "to deny any expression of hatred or violence" and had the firm intention to forgive all those who were their enemies so far. "We feel the repentance needed to see our own mistakes and to ask for forgiveness for all the victims of our actions," the opposition politician said.

The basic intention of his grouping was a good one, "Timochenko" emphasized that justice was being sought for the excluded and persecuted of Colombia, as well as the overcoming of inequality and disadvantages. "We are dreaming that you and your father will understand us," the party leader now told Francis. He expressed his happiness and gratitude for the Pope's comments, according to which the exploitation of poor countries by rich people was just as displeasing as the rejection of diversity, or the contempt for human dignity by striving for profit.

Lodino's admiration for Francis was expressed in the most direct terms. "Since you took the first step into my country, I feel that something will finally change," says the Marxist leader. The pope is leaving a deep impression in the country's history, mobilizing all sections of the population and giving them a message, and shows the "tears of the emotion of men, women and children who admire your smile, your goodness and the splendor in your eyes. Only a saint like you does that," wrote Lodono, who also compared the pope with his surname Francis of Assisi and Jesus.

The FARC had agreed to sign the peace treaty with the Colombian government, but some members of the government had refused to ratify their consent by being absent, complained the former Guerrilla. He asked Pope Francis, "with the great power of his prayer," to keep the Colombian people from "frustration" after the negotiations of peace had been an enormous force, Londono wrote. The FARC also prays for it.

The government and FARC had signed the peace treaty in November 2016, after four years of negotiation in Cuba. It was only through the signing that the guerrillas could be disarmed and demobilized, which in the summer became once again an opposition party with the same party leadership as a political force under the leadership of London.

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Communist Symbol Projected on the Facade of Bogota's Cathedral -- Few Days Before Pope Visit: FARC Now a Political Party

(Bogota) The Pope's visit to Colombia, which began on Wednesday, caused the entire country to be in a state of unrest. While, for political and religious reasons, some criticism of the Pope's visit was practiced, the symbol of the Marxist guerrilla organization FARC was projected on the facade of the Cathedral of Bogota during the night of the 1st of September. With this emblematic provocation, the FARC presented itself to the public as a political party at the end of its founding party.

At present, almost everything revolves around the communist "Narcoguerillas." Colombia's left-wing president Juan Manuel Santos (Social Party of National Unity, Partido de la U) had signed a peace agreement with the Marxist underground organization FARC in November 2016, although the people had rejected such an agreement only a few weeks earlier in a referendum.

Former flag of the FARC

The FARC rebels, defeated militarily by Santos' predecessor Uribe, have been seeing their future as a political party since then. After the failure of the armed struggle, they want to take part in the country's policy in a new way. Critics accuse Santos of looking at future left alliances in order to cement his own power and prevent the return of the political right to government.

The FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People's Army) had been established as the militant arm of the Colombian Communist Party in 1965 to forcibly seize power in the country, based on the Cuban model and Soviet support. The 50 years of FARC terrorism has cost more than 200,000 lives. Only the hard military attitude of President Alvaro Uribe Velez (2002 - 2010) put an end to the ghost. His successor, Santos, Uribe was not allowed to stand for a third mandate according to the constitution, went the other way and put the FARC into the political system of the country. The motto is, from a guerrilla movement to political party. Many Colombians disagree, as the result of the referendum last year showed.

The Pope as the most important public ally of the left "peace treaty"

Santos found on the international level in Pope Francis the most important ally. The head of the Catholic Church, because of his sympathy for leftist groups, also known as leftist radical groups, supports the integration of the communist narcoguerrillas, so named because it was financed mainly from drug trafficking.

Francis made a visit to the country dependent on the acceptance of the peace agreement. Another aspect, which caused considerable reservations in some parts of the Colombian population against the imminent Pope's visit.

In addition to the political aspects, there are also strong religious reservations in Colombia against Pope Francis. Among Latin Americans, their attitude to various, relevant, topics is seen more critically than in Europe. At the end of July, José Galat Noumer, one of the most famous Catholics of Colombia, former Rector of the University of La Gran Columbia and a successful Catholic television entrepreneur, was excommunicated for "persistent criticism of the pope." Apparently, direct intervention from the Vatican at the Colombian Bishops' Conference was decisive. Before the Pope's visit they wanted to make a clean table.

The criticism has not been silenced, however, as a report from the Radio network RCN Radio showed at the weekend. A priest, who wanted to remain anonymous in order not to endanger his participation in a debate with Pope Francis, exercised severe criticism of the "direction" which Francis is giving to the Church. He knows at least 90 other priests who share the same opinion. He wanted to present his reservations to the Pope during the meeting, which is scheduled for the first day of his visit. He would also tell him that "many believe that he is associated with Freemasonry."

FARC is constituted as a political police: Start with "typically left-radical provocation"

As RCN Radio reports, "many" Colombians are convinced that Francis is "a communist".

This critical climate was further heated up by an incident last weekend. In the late evening of September 1, the new political symbol of the FARC was projected onto the façade of the Bogota Cathedral, the Church of the Primate of Colombia, and the mother church of the whole country.

New FARC symbol: red rose with red star

The previous, warlike Eastern Bloc iconography with Kalashnikov was abandoned. Instead, the new logo shows a stylized red rose, including the lettering FARC. In the middle of the rose is a five-pointed, red star. Observers speak of a conscious approach to the symbolism of the Socialist International to find international support for the entry into representative parliamentarism. The Red Star stands for the ideological conviction. The name FARC has been retained. According to the founding meeting, which took place from 27 August to 1 September, FARC is no longer for Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), but for Fuerza Alternativa Revolucionaria del Comun (Alternative Revolutionary Force Colombia," is meant).

After the collapse of the Eastern bloc and the end of the Soviet Union, the never-forbidden Communist Party of Colombia almost disbanded. In 1993 it distanced itself for the first time from its military arm FARC. Last July, the "reconciliation" and the announcement that a "new party" together with the FARC was to be launched and to stand in the 2018 parliamentary elections.

Founding party meeting with an anti-Christian or "pro-Church" provocation

"Total rejection," Msgr. Mercado said, is a challenge for FARC

The new party was presented to the public on 1 September as the beginning of the founding party. A festival was held at Plaza de Bolivar in the center of Bogota. On this occasion, the new symbol of the left-wing party was projected onto the façade of the cathedral. A "typical, left-radical provocation" as it is called in Bogota. A few days before the beginning of the Pope's visit it was, as some say, a provocative but equally emblematic gesture.

It is provocative because Colombian bishops, because of their painful experience with communism and their hostility to the church, rejected the peace agreement a year ago during the referendum. Emblematic, because indirectly, Pope Francis has been called as a kind of godfather of the transformation process from guerrilla organization to a political party. President Santos and government representatives are not tired of establishing a link between the two events. The FARC confirmed this view with the light projection. The Vatican has so far denied such a connection and speaks of a "pastoral visit."

Image of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá

Procession of the Miraculous Image of Chiquinquirá to the Cathedral of Bogota

Just a few hours before the incident, the miraculous image of Our Lady of Chiquinquira, the patroness of Colombia, had been carried in procession in the same place. The image of Our Lady rarely leaves its usual place of storage in the Basilica of Chiquinquira. Because of the imminent Pope's visit, however, it was temporarily transferred to Bogota and displayed in a chapel of the cathedral. There, Pope Francis will visit. There, the faithful can also revere it, after the Pope's visit, it will be brought back to the Chiquinquirá, some 135 kilometers from Bogota.

The Metropolitan of Bogota, Mons. Pedro Mercado, showed his anger on Twitter with a "total rejection" of a photo of the FARC projection on the facade of the cathedral.

The sometimes contemptuous reactions that followed on Twitter reveal the spirit accomplished by the adherents of  FARC who have now become part of the global left, for which Pope Francis shows such astonishing sympathies.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Twitter / Wikicommons (screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Pope in Colombia: No Special Meeting with Venezuela's Bishops

Vatican spokesman Burke: Possibly an informal conversation with guerrilla group ELN, who will ask the Pope for forgiveness for the murder of Bishop Jaramillo.

Vatican City-Bogota (kath.net/KAT) Vatican spokesman Greg Burke has confirmed a meeting with the bishops of Venezuela in Pope Francis' official visit program to Colombia. There is also no meeting with the former guerrilla group FARC and other opposition groups such as the ELN. Informal encounters and conversations with Venezuelan bishops during the trip are, however, probable. In addition, two cardinals of the crisis state are coming to Bogota airport to receive the Pope.

During his travels to Colombia, Pope Francis is concerned primarily with pastoral questions, although the peace process will also play an important role, said Burke. Pope Francis has visited Colombia twice during his time as a bishop, as well as twice as a priest in the 1970s; he had journeyed to the cities of Bogota, Medellin, and La Ceja.

The opening day (7 September) in Bogota will be entitled, "Handicrafts of Peace, Promoter of Life". On the 8th of September in the village of Villavicencio "Reconciliation with God, with the Colombians and with nature" will be in the foreground. In Medellin (September 9), the theme of "Christian life as a reunion", in Cartagena (September 10) is finally about human dignity and human rights.

Further details of the trip were revealed by the Vatican: The outward flight is handled via the airline Alitalia, the return flight with the Colombian Avianca.

Whether a meeting with the guerrillas does not actually take place during the Colombian trip is still questionable, despite Vatican denials. On Friday, representatives of the rebel group ELN declared that they were seeking to meet with the Pope to officially ask forgiveness for their "Mistake" of the assassination of Bishop Jesus Emilio Jaramillo Monsalve, said the Colombian radio station RCN radio on its website.

Bishop Jaramillo (1916-1989) was regarded as an opponent of the left-wing ELN guerrillas in the 1980s with his initiatives for small-scale farmers and indigenous peoples in his diocese, Arauca, against whose violence he also expressed public disapproval. The militia then murdered the then 73-year-old bishop on 2 October 1989. Pope Francis will beatify the "Prophet and Martyr of Peace," which is the inscription on Jaramillo's gravestone, on September 8th in Villavicencio. On the same day there will also be a reconciliation gesture with victims of violence in Colombia.

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com AMDG

10 Year Memorial For FARC Massacre of Civilians in Colombia

[Colombia] Back on May 2nd of 2002 during the long civil war in Colombia against the FARC, 115 citizens of Bojayá, a village in Chocó province, mainly negro population, (amongst them 45 children and many pregnant young women) took refugee inside the village chapel. Refuge though it is, it was not protection enough against the FARC's shelling which ruthlessly rained down on these innocents.

 The picture is a relic of the main crucifix of the Altar.

 SPREAD THE WORD

  Source El Tiempo.com...

FARC Bombing Kills Mother and 8 Month Old Child

[Colombia] The terrorists of the FARC, its leaders, Piedad Córdoba, Ivan Cepeda and their allies at Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Collective [Like the SPLC or the ACLU but even worse] , these murderers and thieves have now committed an act of barbarism yet again for the admiration and support of the FARC.

They have murdered a girl of 8 months and her mother. They set off an explosion using 6 kilos of plastic explosive, killing the mother, the wife of an official, and her child on the 30th of December, just a few days ago at a police station in Orito Putumayo, near the Equadorian border.

 Los terroristas de las FARC, sus obsecuentes aúlicos Piedad Córdoba, Iván Cepeda y el Colectivo de Avivatos y Ladrones, entre otros, deben estar de plácemes por la barbarie cometida una vez más por sus admirados y defendidos amigotes de las FARC, nuevamente han maltratado a Colombia en su alma con ese asesinato de la niña de 8 meses de nacida y su mamá

Bomb Defused at Traditional Catholic Church in Colombia

Edit: Wow, the Communist FARC's bombing everything else in Colombia and killing innocent civilians, why not bomb people at Holy Mass too? This ongoing conflict has received significant support from Chavez's Venezuela whose imperialist activities are depriving his country's hungry people of bread.

Bomb experts were dispatched to a Catholic Church there where a device weighing slightly less than one kilo was located under the floor and disarmed just before First Saturday Mass on the 6th of August according to unnamed source. It is suspected that the FARC was behind this attack. They were accused of another attack six days later where a car bomb was detonated, wounding at least nine people.

They also blew up a bus on July 9th last month. The FARC has been perpetrating killings on southern Columbia´s religious centers, especially in Nariño and Cauca provinces

Despite the Catholic Church's calls for mediation, it wouldn't be the first time the FARC has targeted Catholic events and individuals.

These Reds certainly have an interest in making people feel unsafe in their homes and even in their churches.

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A car bomb exploded outside a major radio station and banks in Colombia’s capital on Thursday, shattering windows and injuring at least nine people, police said. No deaths were reported.

The blast occurred at 5:30 a.m. (6:30 a.m. EDT) outside the building of Caracol Radio in northern Bogota. The national police operations director, Gen. Orlando Paez, said the car was packed with at least 110 pounds of explosives.

Gen. Cesar Pinzon, the city’s police chief, suggested that leftist rebels could have set off the blast, but he said authorities were not sure whether the bomb was aimed at the station or at several nearby bank headquarters.

Link to AP source...

Catholic Church in Columbia Wants to Negotiate With FARC

BOGOTA (Reuters) - A Roman Catholic Church official on Friday proposed a meeting in Europe with Colombia's main guerrilla leader to discuss handover of hostages and possible negotiations to end Latin America's oldest insurgency.

World

Previous attempts to bring the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, to the table have failed over conditions for the release of the captives it holds in jungle camps and demands that the rebels end hostilities before talks begin.

Colombian Cardinal Dario Castrillon said the plan to seek talks with the FARC was approved by President Alvaro Uribe, whose U.S.-backed army offensive has battered the guerrilla group to its weakest level in decades.

The proposal for dialogue with FARC commander Alfonso Cano came after Uribe blamed rebels for kidnapping and killing Luis Cuellar, the governor of Caqueta state. He was abducted from his home on Monday and later found with his throat cut, as soldiers pursued the kidnappers.

The kidnapping and murder raised questions about the success of Uribe's campaign against the rebels. Colombia's government has received billions in U.S. aid in its security campaign.

"If there is a dialogue it could be in Europe. The possibility is there. The president agrees with that, as long as it is in the best interests of the country," Castrillon said in an interview with local RCN radio.

He did not give details on where talks could occur.

The FARC has not issued a statement on the kidnapping of Cuellar, the highest-profile attack on a politician during Uribe's presidency. The Colombia leader, however, has ordered his military commanders to try to rescue 24 police and soldiers held by the rebels, some in captivity for more than a decade.

Cano took over the leadership of the rebel group last year after several of its top commanders were killed and its ranks were weakened by a steady flow of desertions due to increasing military pressure.

Uribe, whose father was killed in a botched rebel kidnapping two decades ago, is popular for his security drive which has helped cut back on the kidnapping, bombings and attacks that once made violence endemic in Colombia.

"The government is ready to told talks with these illegal armed groups once they show a real willingness to seek peace," said Cesar Mauricio Velasquez, a presidential spokesman.

Uribe says any dialogue with the FARC must begin with a rebel ceasefire. The FARC has said it wants to handover the 24 hostages for hundreds of jailed fighters.

The rebel group previously has unilaterally released hostages in what it has described as goodwill gestures. Uribe says, while welcomed, those releases are part of FARC attempts to score political points. Rebels had said they planned to free two more hostages soon.

(Writing by Patrick Markey in Bogota; Editing by Paul Simao)

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Farc Rebels Kill Columbian Governor

Farc rebels in Colombia have killed a provincial governor hours after kidnapping him in a bold commando raid, marking a return of political kidnaps.

Clad in his pyjamas, Luis Francisco Cuellar was taken from his home in Florencia, capital of Caquetá province, on Monday night after at least eight suspected members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) blasted the door down with explosives, according to local officials.

His body was found hours later in a rural area. President Alvaro Uribe said last night that Cuellar's throat had been slit.

The acting Caquetá governor, Patricia Vega, told local radio that the government had confirmed Cuellar's body was found near a vehicle abandoned by the commando squad. "Unfortunately we have to accept this painful reality," Vega said. The Farc has yet to issue a statement.

Officials said information from peasants led troops to the body after Uribe had offered a $500,000 (£313,000) reward for information. Uribe's father was killed in a botched kidnapping in 1982.

Troops combed jungles and mountains of the region throughout Tuesday, searching for Cuellar and his abductors


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Columbia's Biggest Communist Groups Unite

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's two biggest rebel groups said on Wednesday they may join forces against the state after years of being pushed onto the defensive by the U.S.-backed security policies of President Alvaro Uribe.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) issued a surprise joint statement in which they threatened to unite with "force and belligerence" in their fight against the conservative Uribe.

"Our only enemy is North American Imperialism and its oligarchic lackeys," the statement said.

The ELN, formed by renegade Catholic priests and inspired by the liberation theology movement of the 1960s, has clashed repeatedly with the hard-line communist FARC.


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