GLOBAL GREENS CONGRESS 2008 DEDICATED TO INGRID BETANCOURT:
On the second day of the Global Greens 2008 Congress in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Greens from around 80 countries and from every continent have taken part in a special event dedicated to Ingrid Betancourt, the former leader and presidential candidate of the Colombian Green Party (Partido VerdeOxigeno), who has been held hostage by the FARC Guerrilla for more than 6 years. The Congress was addressed by Juan Carlos Lecompte, the husband of Ingrid Betancourt and Luis Eladio Perez.Mr Eladio Perez is a former Colombian Senator who was held hostage by FARC for almost 6 years. For 4 of those years, he was held alongside Ingrid Betancourt and her running mate and campaign manager, Clara Rojas.
Speaking from Sao Paulo, EGP Co-Spokesperson Philippe Lamberts said: This was an extremely moving and powerful event. Greens in Latin America, as well as in Europe and the rest of the world, have campaigned actively and consistently for the immediate and unconditional release of Ingrid Betancourt and all those hostages held by FARC. Listening to Ingrid Betancourt's husband as well as a former hostage who was released only 2 months ago and who was the last person to have seen her in 2006, only served to motivate us to redouble our efforts to secure her release and a political resolution to the armed conflict in Colombia.
EGP Co-Spokesperson Ulrike Lunacek continued : We European Greens completely agree with the statement today by Luis Eladio Perez to the effect that bombing and killing the FARC leadership as the government of President Uribe has been attempting to do,will do nothing to end the poverty, hunger and endemic and structural inequalities which are at the core of the armed conflict in Colombia. We Greens will continue to demand that the Uribe government returns to the negotiating table and stops trying to find a purely military solution to its conflict with FARC. We also support his call for Greens to urge their governments to use their influence to ensure that President Uribe does not , under any circumstances, attempt an armed rescue of the hostages which would almost certainly have disastrous consequences. We in the EGP will be demanding that this issue is addressed at the upcoming EU–Latin America Summit in Lima in mid-May.
