UN Secretary General Guterres in Colombia to Support Peace Efforts

EYEAFRICA TV: New York, USA: United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has arrived in Colombia to support the South American country’s peace efforts.
Mr. Guterres was received by President Juan Manuel Santos and held series of meetings with Colombian officials, members of civil society and the UN country team.
At a press encounter, SG Guterres said this was “a mission of solidarity, solidarity with Colombia and the Colombian people at a historical juncture of enormous importance for Colombia, for Latin America, and for the world.”
He said around the world “we see more and more new conflicts and the old conflicts are not resolved,” giving Colombia’s peace process “a fundamental symbolic importance for the world.”
Guterres said, “I believe that it is the duty of citizens from all over the world to fully support the peace building process in Colombia, by the Colombian people.”
The peace process remains challenged by the task of reintegrating 14,000 former rebel combatants, as well as a just-broken ceasefire between the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Colombian Government.
The UN mission, which started its operations on 26 September 2017, was established to verify the commitments of the Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP) on reintegrating former FARC-EP members into society, and on ensuring security in territories most affected by the decades-long conflict, which was ended with a peace deal between the two sides in November 2016.