Cuba: Uribe ‘deceived’ Colombians to vote against peace deal – FARC commander Marquez

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• published: 08 Oct 2016
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Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Secretariat member and its Caribbean Bloc commander Ivan Marquez gave an interview to RT in Havana, on Saturday, in which he talked about the peace deal between the Colombian government and FARC. Commenting on why Colombians rejected the agreement reached between the Colombian government and rebels, Marquez underlined that the majority of the people did not participate in the referendum on October 2, and that it’s also necessary to listen to those who did not vote. Marquez also expressed negative views of former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez, saying that he organised a campaign which “deceived” many Colombians to vote against the peace deal. Marquez went to on call Velez “the instigator of the strife in Colombia,” adding that “he wants to destroy” the agreement. Colombian voters rejected the proposed peace deal by 50.24 percent in a referendum on October 2. Despite this, Colombian President Juan Santos was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for his efforts in reaching a peace agreement with the FARC rebels. SOT, Ivan Marquez, Caribbean Bloc commander and member of the FARC Secretariat (Spanish): "We are going to hold a series of events to listen to public opinion. And we will listen, not only to people who voted against the peace agreement. The fact is that in Colombia 'no' was said not only by supporters of Uribe, but also quite sensible people. Many who voted against, were just deceived by the campaign, organized by the ex-President of Colombia Alvaro Uribe Velez. But we also need to listen to people who voted for peace, and we will do it. Let's listen to people who have been victims of the conflict. We believe that it is necessary to listen to those 62% of people who did not participate in the referendum on October 2. And these are more than 20 million Colombians." SOT, Ivan Marquez, Caribbean Bloc commander and member of the FARC Secretariat (Spanish): "Uribe is the instigator of the strife in Colombia. We are confident that if he is the one to monitor the peace process, Colombia will become a real hell. We know that for sure, because he is well-known in Colombia. As for his requirements, he just wants to disrupt the peace agreement. He wants to destroy it. We told the authorities that Uribe not only wants to disrupt the agreements reached in Havana, he still wants the President's head. It is a pity that there are still such people, who are calling for hatred and violence." SOT, Ivan Marquez, Caribbean Bloc commander and member of the FARC Secretariat (Spanish): "There are two important points. First is that it is true that the representatives of FARC-EP, who attended the conference in Yari, are back to the guerrilla fronts and in the camps across the country. It's true. On the other hand, as for the claims of the government that the regime of bilateral ceasefire will last until the October 31, we take various security measures in the areas of our operations. Not for the purpose of confrontation, but to avoid situations that can harm the healthy atmosphere that prevails in this process." Video ID: 20161008-090 Video on Demand: http://www.ruptly.tv Contact: cd@ruptly.tv Twitter: http://twitter.com/Ruptly Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Ruptly