Although lately the evidence and testimony from former guerrilla members seemed to have been tipping the scale in his favor, former Valle representative Sigifredo López will have to wait until June 20th before he finds out if he will be released from prison or made to stand trial for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping and subsequent murder of 11 of his colleagues.

López is being accused of assisting the guerrilla in kidnapping the other Valle representatives but the validity of several pieces of evidence has been brought into question. Several former guerrilla leaders have denied López’ involvement, saying they acted alone, without outside assistance. This, however, was not enough to earn Lopez his freedom just yet.

Free trade agreements with large economies like the United States and Canada have led the Colombian Government to work harder at promoting the export of Colombian fruits and vegetables. The Minister of Agriculture, Sergio Diaz-Granados, assured an audience yesterday during the Agrofuturo tradeshow that the Government is going to great lengths to make sure Colombian fruits and vegetables can make it into those markets.

As of May 15^th, Colombia gained access to those markets with products like celery, spinach and arugula; in a second phase, it is hoping to introduce avocado, pineapple, mango, melon, papaya, pepper, pork, beef and poultry into foreign markets without major inconveniences.

A statement supposedly released by the Farc guerrilla, in which the group claims it will turn in their weapons and demobilize, has raised doubt among Colombians who are questioning its veracity. A few minutes after learning of the message, President Juan Manuel Santos said that, if the statement was indeed made by Farc, “what we need to see are true acts of peace.”

In a portion of the text the group says it will express its political views through Marcha Patriótica , the leftist movement created last March.

The Government, he said, “welcomes approaches to peace,” but added that “Colombians are skeptical, we don’t believe, they’ve made us believe many times, but what we need here are true acts towards peace.”