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Judi Lynn

(160,219 posts)
Thu Sep 13, 2012, 03:37 PM Sep 2012

The Press in Colombia “Rediscovers” Peace

The Press in Colombia “Rediscovers” Peace
By Constanza Vieira

BOGOTA, Sep 13 2012 (IPS) - What are the obstacles to peace in war-torn Colombia? When government and rebel negotiators asked themselves this question, they concluded that one problem was that the media in this country had turned “peace” itself into a dirty word.

But Enrique Santos – the former owner of the leading daily newspaper, El Tiempo, older brother of President Juan Manuel Santos, and a key participant in the preliminary talks with the rebels – reportedly quipped: “That can be fixed in two weeks.”

IPS was told about the comment by a source close to the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Enrique Santos reportedly made his remark during the exploratory talks that began a year and a half ago and led to the president’s Aug. 27 announcement that formal peace talks would start in October.

“That assertion, if he really made it, is also a confession about how news is handled in a manipulative fashion,” journalist Arturo Guerrero told IPS.

More:
http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/09/the-press-in-colombia-rediscovers-peace/

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