TEXTO DE LA CARTA EN INGLÉS DEL PRESIDENTE URIBE A THE ECONOMIST

Bogotá, 3 oct (CNE).- El siguiente es el texto de la carta en inglés que envió el presidente Álvaro Uribe Vélez a la revista The Economist y que fue publicada el día de hoy.

"Uribe confronts terror

Colombia welcomes the Human Rights Watch report on child soldiers as confirmation of the valuable work done by certain human-rights groups in this country (“The children's stories”, September 20th). As evidence that Colombia's current and past governments have listened to human-rights groups, a law came into effect in 1999 which prohibits anyone under 18 from serving in the armed forces, even if they have the permission of their parents. This law is part of efforts to improve the quality of our soldiers.

This, combined with extensive human-rights training, brought about an 84% reduction in the number of allegations of human-rights abuses filed against the armed forces compared with a decade ago.

The heartbreaking and dangerous path which a handful of very young people have chosen or been forced into makes our policy of aiding those who decide to desert from armed terrorist groups all the more urgent. This policy is generous and includes safe housing, food and counselling.

Since the beginning of my administration, 2,215 FARC, ELN and “self-defence” (paramilitary) members have laid down their arms. I have instructed my advisers to include child rehabilitation in the agenda of the meeting on international support for Colombia that will take place in Europe soon.

This government's democratic security policy aims at guaranteeing human rights to everyone in Colombia. Homicides and kidnappings have diminished by 23% and 32%, respectively during the first eight months of 2003. We do not feel satisfied with our results so far and we will persevere in our efforts to secure our aim.

All constructive and balanced criticism from NGOs is welcome and we respect the right of all NGOs to have their say, even if negative. However, we reserve the right to disagree with those reports which make claims without documentation or distort facts and achievements. The armed terrorist groups will continue to ignore international opinion.

They survive despite increasingly successful pressure from the state because of their revenues from the international drug trade. We are grateful for the support that we already receive but we need even greater international co-operation to disrupt the drug trade, reduce consumption, seize assets that are held outside Colombia and restrict the supply of arms to these groups.

Alvaro Uribe Vélez
President of the Republic of Colombia
Bogota"