Colombia looks to revive legacy of guerrilla-priest
Feb 15, 7:22 PM EST
Colombia looks to revive legacy of guerrilla-priest
By JACOBO GARCIA and JOSHUA GOODMAN
Associated Press
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Camilo Torres was more talented with the Eucharist than he was with a rifle. In his first firefight after joining Colombia's National Liberation Army in the 1960s, the Roman Catholic priest turned leftist rebel was shot and killed.
On Monday's 50th anniversary of his death, some Colombians are reviving the memory in the hopes that Torres' journey from scion of an elite Bogota family to outspoken advocate for the poor can lead to an eventual reintegration of thousands of leftist rebels who may disarm under a government-brokered peace deal.
Torres' remains have never been found. But last month, President Juan Manuel Santos ordered the removal and DNA testing of unmarked remains from a military cemetery in northern Colombia. The rebel priest was believed to have been secretly buried there by battlefield opponents who feared his final resting place would become a pilgrimage site.
Santos' move was in response to a call by the Marxist-inspired rebel group known as the ELN for a Christian burial for Torres. Its leaders have said the gesture could lead the group to join the three-year-old peace talks taking place in Cuba with Colombia's largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
More:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_COLOMBIA_GUERRILLA_PRIEST?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-02-15-12-17-22
