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Soccer truce? Colombian president urges peace for Copa America
Updated: Wednesday June 27, 2001 6:25 PM
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Two days after the kidnapping of a soccer official, President Andres Pastrana asked Colombia's armed insurgent groups for a truce to allow next month's Copa America tournament to go on. In a telephone interview Wednesday with The Associated Press, Pastrana said the temporary truce would be similar to those guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups have periodically called during the Christmas season and elections in the course of the 37-year civil war. Pastrana also characterized Monday's kidnapping of the Colombian Soccer Federation vice president Hernan Mejia, one of the tournament's organizers, as "an isolated act, not an attempt against the Copa America." The kidnapping, apparently by the country's largest leftist rebel group, sent new fears around the Latin American soccer world about holding the 12-nation tournament here next month. Concern already was running high after a wave of bombings last month in major cities scheduled to hold games. Pastrana has staked the country's reputation on holding the tournament in Colombia, despite the security problems. He traveled to Paraguay earlier this month to convince South American soccer officials. In the interview, Pastrana said Colombia would do all it could to guarantee safety, including dispatching 20,000 police to the games. "The country wants not only to hold the Copa America but to also demonstrate ... before the world that what we want is peace and reconciliation between Colombians," he said. Organizers of the tournament acknowledged Wednesday that plans to hold the soccer championship in Colombia are in doubt after the kidnapping. The South American Soccer Confederation said in a statement that Monday's abduction of Mejia raised security concerns about holding the event in Colombia. They called on his abductors to immediately free him. So far, however, no firm decision over the fate of Colombia's hosting has been made public. Nicolas Leoz, head of the confederation, also said he sent a statement of "solidarity" to the Colombian people. He was meeting with heads of South America's soccer associations in Buenos Aires, Argentina. News of Mejia's kidnapping was followed Tuesday by word of kidnap threats against top Argentine players. The threat was delivered in a letter to the Argentine Embassy in Bogota. In an apparent reference to the threats, Pastrana said "we should not fall for terrorism by phone or terrorism by mail." The president's call for a truce during the July 11-29 games follows earlier statements by guerrillas and rival rightist paramilitary militias that they would not interfere with the Copa America. "The armed actors have said they respect the Copa and they are going to respect the Copa America, and I am sure, considering how well we know them, that they are going to honor their word," Pastrana said.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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