Original: Spanish
The origins of our International, as well as the unequivocal vocation of its members, respond profoundly to a genuine desire to build more just, egalitarian, free and democratic societies, but with a supreme purpose, peace as an end, as a meeting point and progress of different cultures, ethnic groups, creeds and nations.
Today, in the 21st century, that vocation is still valid, and striving for it must be a joint task on which there can be no option to give up or to believe that it is no longer possible, that the resolution of conflicts by peaceful means is a mere statement that is part of the history books; on the contrary, we continue to build history, we are called to lead it, to continue believing in reason, in our International as a renewed vehicle of confluence and global incidence to continue determining paths of collective understanding and harmony.
Colombia is one of those nations whose past and present have been marked by violence, by the armed conflict that for decades has left orphans, widows, desolation, bitterness, and a fractured and polarised society. The Socialist International witnessed the signing of the agreements to end the conflict with the FARC-EP, where the Colombian Liberal Party was also a vitally important political actor.
Today when a new opportunity opens up to continue reconciling Colombian society; today when there is a genuine will of President Gustavo Petro to silence any form of violence, seeking truth, justice, reparation and no repeat of victims, and thus achieve "total peace"; today when the path for negotiation with the National Liberation Army – ELN and the Colombian State begins to be paved, is when the Socialist International has the most relevance for Latin America and the Caribbean, since the Colombian conflict is the oldest in the western hemisphere and one of the longest in the world.
The Socialist International was a leading actor in the delivery of the arms of the April 19 Movement - M19 back in 1990 within the framework of a government of the Colombian Liberal Party. Today from the XXVII Congress of the Socialist International, we express to the people of Colombia, to President Gustavo Petro and his government, to the National Liberation Army - ELN, our full and absolute willingness to support, accompany, observe, promote and facilitate any action that from within our organization we can carry out in favour of total peace in Colombia, the follow-up of the fulfilment of the agreements with the FARC-EP, and consequently of the conduction to a successful conclusion of the recently initiated peace negotiations with the ELN .
Because Colombians, Latin Americans, Caribbeans, and the world as a whole, deserve that our generation finally experiences the silence of weapons, and the consolidation of a peaceful society for generations to come.