Bogotá, Colombia, Feb 16, 2010 / 22:57 pm
The president of the Bishops’ Conference of Colombia, Bishop Ruben Salazar, has called on both the FARC rebel group and the country's government to depoliticize Colombia's hostage situation.
For ten months, FARC has continued to announce the “imminent” release of the 24 soldiers and police officers it is holding hostage. However, due to disagreements over the terms of release, no one has been freed.
Bishop Salazar told reporters that the hostages have not been released due to political issues.
The bishop added that the role of the Colombian bishops in the liberation process is to be present and to ensure that everything is done properly. However, he warned, “it’s up to the government and to FARC to put the process of liberation into motion.”
“What matters to us is that the hostages are released. The problem is that they are being constantly toyed with in one way or another."
FARC currently holds a significant number of hostages and is demanding that 500 terrorists be released from prison in exchange for their freedom.