With presidential and congressional elections right around the corner, the U Party asked Cambio Radical to join forces and approach the race in 2014 as a united party.

The proposal was introduced by Senate president, Roy Barreras, who said “we have great interest in the U Party and Cambio Radical finding common ground and unity, we will be proposing formal conversations between directors (…) in order to hopefully appear as one party in defense of Juan Manuel Santos.”

“We are two parties that share everything, we share the goal of defending the Santos administration’s good purpose, of reelecting the President, we share the goal of peace, so we can share the goal of electoral strategy,” said Barreras, who is also the head of the U Party.

The Supreme Court sentenced former Congressman Cesar Perez Garcia to 30 years in prison for his role in the Segovia massacre, in which 43 people died. The Court found the 78-year old politician guilty of homicide, conspiracy to commit a crime and personal injuries for his participation in the massacre that occurred on November 11^th, 1988, when Pérez was a representative for Antioqua in the House of Representatives.

Perez was accused of participating in the massacre to preserve his political influence in the area. He allegedly asked paramilitary chiefs, Fidel Castaño and Henry de Jesús Perez to take care of reducing the reach of leftists in that region. During the trial there was evidence suggesting that Perez didn’t just give the orders for the massacre, but also actively contributed to the creation of the paramilitary group known as “Death to Revolutionaries of Antioquia’s Northeast”.

While there were three canonizations in Rome on Sunday and there are now 803 new Catholic saints, the presence of Colombians at St. Peter’s Square was hard to ignore. Flags, banners, posters and pendants with the face of Colombia’s first saint, Laura Montoya, were everywhere and the excitement and pride were almost palpable.

Italian Antonio Primaldo and 800 laymen known as the ‘martyrs of Otranto’, killed in the 15^th century by Ottoman soldiers for refusing to convert to Islam, and Mexico’s Mother Maria Guadalupe García were canonized alongside the Colombian by Pope Francis in a ceremony that lasted more than three hours and needed 300 priests to hand out communion to the crowds. The ceremony was in Latin but the Spanish language was included often.

The relic of Mother Laura was brought to the altar by physician Carlos Eduardo Restrepo, who was cured of a perforated esophagus thanks to the new saint’s intercession.

In the meeting between Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos, and Pope Francis, the Pontiff made it clear that he supports peace in Colombia but revealed that, at least this year, he won’t be visiting the country. “Only the brave insist on goals to achieve peace, and those are the ones that are worthwhile, the Pope said to me during a private audience,” President Santos said. The meeting lasted 15 minutes. The Pope said he is following the Colombian armed conflict closely and views negotiations as a positive.

Mr Santos said he did formally invite the Pope to visit Colombia on his way to Brazil in June, but Pope Francis gave him two reasons why he won’t make it this year. For one, he feels he must be democratic and not show favoritism to Latin America just because he happens to be from the region; furthermore, he doesn’t like to travel very much and has another trip to the Middle East coming up as well.

President Santos was in Rome for the canonization of Mother Laura Montoya, Colombia’s very first saint.

Colombia’s Minister of Agriculture, Juan Camilo Restrepo, turned his resignation in to President Juan Manuel Santos.

While he handed his letter in at least two months ago, Restrepo said he will remain in office until the Government and Farc come to an agreement on the issue of rural development.

I think I’ll end up crying,” says Alejandro Arango from Contento Films talking about Medellín and videos produced by the company to support the city’s candidacy to host the Youth Olympic Games, “Our city has so much to show.”

The ‘technical’ video was shown at Explora Park yesterday and includes aerial images of Medellín and its sporting, cultural and educational venues.

A ‘behind-the-scenes’ video is also in the works but is being kept confidential to avoid plagiarism. A third video, the one organizers call “the emotional one”, won’t be revealed until July, when the IOC announces the winner in Switzerland.

A guest speaker at the Non-Violence Summit was Rogelio Alonso from Spain, who weighed in on Medellín’s reality.

“It’s unrealistic to think that violence will be eradicated tomorrow,” the expert said, explaining that the root of the problem is a subculture of hatred and vengeance, which can only be changed with the development of respect for human rights and democratic values. A reduction in homicides, for instance, is only a temporary solution to a problem that goes far beyond that.

The most recent chapter in the troubled relationship between the Venezuelan Government and former President of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, began last Friday when the neighbor country’s new President, Nicolás Maduro, referred to Mr. Uribe as an “assassin”.

The former President was quick to respond, via his attorney, as did former President Andrés Pastrana; some Government officials are asking President Santos to get involved and take a stand in defense of “presidential dignity”. However, there are also those who feel that this is practically a “personal fight between Maduro and Uribe” and that, in the long run, getting involved as a third party would prove destructive for Colombia, specifically for those living close to the border.

The latest Invamer Gallup poll revealed further decline in former President Alvaro Uribe’s popularity while President Santos’ remained relatively unchanged. It also showed an increase in support for the peace process but made it obvious that polarization between ‘santistas’ and ‘uribistas’ in Colombia is growing.

For the first time since the end of his presidency, former President Alvaro Uribe saw his image fall by nine points and also hit the highest level of unpopularity with 41 percent.

Today people show more support for the peace process. 64 percent of Colombians feel the best way to resolve problems with the guerrilla is to insist on dialogue until an agreement is reached, in February that percentage was 54. Citizens are also increasingly supportive of the possibility of engaging in peace talks with the Eln guerrilla, jumping from 60 to 68 percent in just two months.

President Juan Manuel Santos’ image, meanwhile, remained relatively unchanged, increasing only slightly and still below 50 percent. Today, 47 out of every 100 Colombians have a positive image of the President, three percent more than in February.

As far as regional leaders, Mayor of Medellín Aníbal Gaviria’s image went from 54 to 55 percent, which is a positive considering it plummeted from 72 to 54 percent last time. Governor Sergio Fajardo’s image also went up a point to 72 percent.

The Colombian National Armada handed over 81 fisherman who were caught fishing illegally on the Nicaraguan fishing boat, Papa D, in the joint/regime area between Colombia and Jamaica.

Once all the paperwork was completed, Colombian authorities completed the handover in international waters. The Family Welfare Institute was present during the operation because two 17-year-olds were among the crew.

The captain of the vessel remains in the island of San Andrés and is awaiting arraignment; four other crewmembers also remain in custody.

The Armada stressed it will continue to protect sovereignty and carry out naval operations aimed at protecting natural resources, guaranteeing the rights of the State, and the integrity of the lines of maritime communication; it will also continue to develop search and rescue activities and take action against transnational crimes.