Pope Francis left Colombia on Sunday with calls for reconciliation after its half-century civil war and a peaceful end to the deadly crisis in neighboring Venezuela.
The Argentine pope, 80, held the last in a series of open-air masses in the Caribbean city of Cartagena -- one of Colombia's top tourist draws but also one of its poorest cities.
On the last day of his fifth visit as pope to his native continent, he reiterated calls for peace in Colombia and prayed for a peaceful end to Venezuela's "grave crisis."
"I assure all of you of my prayers for each of the countries of Latin America, and in a special way for neighboring Venezuela," Francis said.
"I appeal for the rejection of all violence in political life and for a solution to the current grave crisis, which affects everyone, particularly the poorest and most disadvantaged of society."
'Pope should intervene'
Venezuela's crisis has caused food and medicine shortages and clashes at anti-government protests that left 125 people dead from April to July.
Pope Francis (C) speaks with Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos (L) and his wife Maria Clemencia Rodriguez, during a farewell ceremony at the Rafael Nunez airport in Cartagena
The Vatican tried unsuccessfully to mediate in negotiations last year between Venezuela's government and opposition.
Thousands of Venezuelans have fled to Colombia to escape the crisis.
"We could ask the pope to intervene directly for dialogue," said Venezuelan housewife Nancy Pugliese, 35, who attended Francis's visit in Cartagena.
"We need all the spiritual support we can get to free Venezuela... The pope should tell President Maduro directly to listen to the people."
On Sunday, Venezuela's center right-led opposition was holding a vote to choose candidates for regional governorship elections scheduled for October.
The opposition MUD coalition and international powers have accused Maduro of stifling democracy by taking over power from state institutions.
Peace in Colombia
Francis reiterated his call for reconciliation in Colombia as it works to seal an end to a half-century civil conflict.
No comments:
Post a Comment