As he arrived, former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel leader Rodrigo Londono, now the head of a new political party, issued an open letter to the pope asking for forgiveness for the suffering the group inflicted. [nL2N1LP0UZ]
“Your repeated expressions about God’s infinite mercy move me to plead your forgiveness for any tears or pain that we have caused the people of Colombia,” Londono, who goes by the alias Timochenko, said in the letter.
and if you believe that, there is a bridge in Brooklyn that I would like to sell you.
so exactly who is this guy?
he has his own Wikipedia page.
According to the United States Department of State, Timoleon Jimenez has set the FARC’s cocaine policies directing and controlling the production, manufacture, and distribution of hundreds of tons of cocaine to the United States and the world, including the "taxation" of the illegal drug trade in Colombia to raise funds for the FARC and the murder of hundreds of people who violated or interfered with the FARC’s cocaine policies.[7]the US is after him, so presumably he hopes the Pope will get him a "get out of jail free" card.
From StrategyPage
You should really read the entire SP article, most of which is about the "socialist" plutocracy in nearby Venezuela but near the end has details on Colombia.
Even though the populist message FARC presents has been successful (at least in the short term) elsewhere (especially in South America) most Colombians still regard FARC as a bunch of gangsters who long ago abandoned their leftist ideals and embraced the drug business and other moneymaking enterprises. Litigation over assets (especially land) that FARC stole over half a century of operations will go on for more than a decade and some bad memories of FARC will take a generation or more to fade. Moreover the socialist experiment next door in Venezuela isn’t over yet and if that remains in the news it will not gain FARC any votes. All this was made worse by recent (mandated by the peace deal) revelations of FARC wealth (over $300 million) that FARC might be allowed to keep.
Attention Francis: Sociopaths lie and cheat to get what they want.
and those who suffered from their actions prefer Jesus' quote about "millstones" than granting them forgiveness (especially when they want to avoid jail and keep their ill gotten gains).
in Jesus' time, the corrupt Roman officials who overcollected taxes (so they could keep the extra money) were a scandal. And Jesus did eat with some to get them to repent, so presumably the Pope is welcome to eat with FARC guys.
The difference? Jesus did manage to get some of them to repent. And show that the repentance was real.
so fin. Encourage forgiveness for FARC, but you know, unless FARC gives some of their $300 million to those they harmed, excuse me if I am cynical about their repentance.
Zacchaeus came down and was glad to welcome Jesus into his home. But the people who saw this began to express disapproval. They said, “He went to be the guest of a sinner.” Later, at dinner, Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Lord, I’ll give half of my property to the poor. I’ll pay four times as much as I owe to those I have cheated in any way.”
however, I should note: the low level guys should be able to be forgiven.
Indeed there have been several amnesties to help these guys (and ladies) leave FARC and not be punished for what they did. Some of them joined because they were idealists, a lot more because hey there were no other jobs and they needed money, and running around with a gun looked like fun, and others were pressured into joining...(especially peasants forced to grow cocaine or process it).
a lot of the small farmers became cocaine growers started planting it to make ends meet, figuring if rich Americanos were dumb enough to use it, why not...and then got caught in the drug wars. And others were pressured into growing cocaine, or even forced to live as slaves processing the stuff.
But the low level amnesties have let ex soldiers return to ordinary lives. The danger for them? hit squads.
Like in the Philippines, cops knowing they got away with murder will kill them as payback. Also, families will hire cops to do this. Finally, as in the Philippines, I suspect that some of these murders that the press has blamed on "right wing hit squads" were actually done by the militant groups, as a way of warning not to quit.
And yes, this is personal: My (adopted) son's older sister's husband left during an amnesty back in the 1990's, and was later found shot outside a bar where he had been drinking. No one was charged.
But this is one reason my oldest son returned to Colombia, to support her and her children.
so yes, the Pope is correct to ask people to forgive those who harmed them, because if not, there will be a lot of payback going on.
ah, but unless the Pope clarifies what he means, he ends up sounding like a naive fool spouting psychobabble.
update: Snide remark one:
Yes, I know: the "millstone around the neck" quote by Jesus was about those who "scandalize children". In those days, it meant pedophilia. Jesus actually called the crooked establishments whited sepulchers.
Two: I was scanning through the dials here, and on Fox News (yes we now have Fox... also AlJ and two CNNS) one of the 911 widows was commenting that she was happy that someone finally called the hijackers murderers and noted the death of their loved ones was murder. Who dared to be so non PC to do this? Trumpie boy of course, who told her, yeah, he had been told by his handlers to use a euphemism.
Sigh. why is a flawed personality like Trumpieboy actually able to tell the truth to power, but the Pope, must be nice... except to those who use airconditioners...
sigh.
LIVE NOT BY LIES (read the whole thing)
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