_WORLD WATCH______________________________
________________Colombia_______________
Rebels release prisoners
A sign of progress toward peace?
In a move that could signal new movement toward an end to a long civil war, the leading rebel group in Colombia freed 242 hostages on June 29. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) handed over the prisoners in the southern town of La Macarena. Leaders of the guerrilla group conveyed the prisoners to Red Cross officials, who put them on planes that ferried them to an airfield outside Bogota.
The release of prisoners was the most encouraging sign brought about to date by more than 2 years of discussions between FARC leaders and the government of President Andres Pastrana.
The move by FARC came just ten days after a Catholic priest was killed in the city of Sonson, by members of an unidentified armed group. Bishop Flavio Calle Zapata condemned the murder, and demanded that the government quickly determine which of the rebel groups operating in the region was responsible.
Father Leonardo Anselmo Alzate was forced to leave his home by a group of masked men and taken away in his own car. His body was found the next day on the outskirts of the city. His funeral was attended by hundreds of priests and several bishops of the region, including Archbishop Antonio Giraldo Jaramillo of Medellin, the president of the Colombian bishops’ conference. “We call all groups to stop the violence against the Colombian people, especially against those whose only ‘crime’ is to love and defend their people,” said Bishop Calle Zapata.
Bigamy no longer a crime
Bishops join feminists in protest
In an unusual alliance, feminist groups in Colombia energetically supported the Colombian bishops’ conference in criticism of a decision by the country’s parliament to legalize bigamy.
According to the new, modified penal code recently approved by the Congress, bigamy is longer a crime in Colombia. Attorney General Alfonso Gomez Mendez said, “The new law is only reflecting the reality of Colombia, where very few cases of bigamy have been denounced.” He said that the government would suspend prosecution of existing bigamy cases, even before the new code took effect on July 24.
The Colombian bishops said, “This decision is a green light to infidelity and promiscuity, and sends a wrong signal about the state’s concern for the stability of the family.” Bishop Hector Gutierrez Pavon, spokesman for the bishops’ conference, added: “This norm is disrespectful to women, who are usually the victims of this infamy, and is the beginning of the end of the Colombian family.”
Florence Thomas, director of the Gender Program at the State University and a well-known feminist leader, agreed: “The bishops are right about the consequences this will have in Colombian society. This is definitively a step backward for the cause of women in society.”
Back to Catholic World Report August/September 2001 Table of Contents