The Colombian government of Gustavo Petro garnered this Wednesday praise and applause at the UN Security Council, in the quarterly review of the Colombian peace process, which on this occasion was attended by Colombian Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva.
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The opening of new negotiations with the National Liberation Army (ELN) It was the decision most praised by the members of the Council, but it was not the only one: praise was heard for the Government’s gender-inclusive policies, the appointment of an African-American woman as vice president and even for the thaw with neighboring Venezuela.
“I was satisfied; I would say it was a magnificent meeting”Foreign Minister Leyva told reporters at the end of the session, and affirmed that he felt the “enthusiasm of the Security Council” because the Petro government is implementing the Havana Agreements “in all that they mean: agrarian reform, participation politics, fight against drug trafficking and ethnic approach”.
It is true that the Colombian peace agreement is one of the few issues in which a rare unanimity in the Security Councilso divided by many other issues and particularly by the war in Ukraine, but this Wednesday the praise went further to reach the general policies of the Petro Government.
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“Colombia has become a model of possibilities“, said Leyva, and he was not exaggerating, because the definition of “model” for the peace process was repeated by several of the members of the Council in the session this Wednesday. Practically the only one who left the chorus of applause was a representative Afro-Colombian, Elizabeth Moreno, from the San Juan Community Council, who had been invited by the Gabonese presidency.
Moreno denounced the “systematic violation of economic, social and environmental rights” and the “genocide” suffered by his communities, forced to constantly move to allow extractive activities.
He also demanded that the warring parties “allow them to be neutral” and not force them to take a position in a conflict that is not theirs. But it was the only dissonant voice in the session this Wednesday: United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom or Brazilamong the fifteen states that took the floor, welcomed the “total peace” process opened with the ELN on a date and place yet to be specified as a step in the right direction, while at the same time they encouraged extending this process to new groups.
They did not fail to point out the pending issues that this process still has, such as the murders of community leaders or human rights activiststhe agrarian reform always postponed or the policies of ethnic and regional inclusion, but all saw in the Petro Government the will to advance in the right direction.
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Therefore, the recommendation was unanimous to extend the mandate of the UN Verification Mission of the Colombian peace process, which must be renewed annually and whose mandate expires on October 31.
