Passports and war driving pregnant Russians to give birth in Argentina

Yahoo – AFP, Philippe BERNES-LASSERRE, 16 February 2023 

When migration officials detained six pregnant Russian women at a Buenos Aires airport last week, they exposed a phenomenon that has been growing in the country for a year: Russian birthing tourism. 

As Russia's President Vladimir Putin wages war in Ukraine, Argentina has gradually become the destination of choice for Russian expectant parents fleeing the threat of conscription and seeking new passports in the South American country. 

Pregnant Russian women and couples with a newborn baby have become increasingly visible in Buenos Aires over the last year, whether in cafes, parks, or buses, but especially in private clinics. 

The case of the six detained women sent alarm bells ringing at the Directorate of Migrations, worried that something underhand was afoot. 

The six heavily-pregnant women -- who traveled separately and were detained for only a few hours over two days -- had tourist visas but no return tickets and were unable to give any details about what they planned to visit. 

Authorities were worried criminal gangs were involved but in truth, the Russians just wanted to give birth in the country. 

Argentina's quality medical facilities and the ease with which nationality is obtained are part of the draw. 

'I want my son to live' 

But many are driven by fear that one day their children could be conscripted into the army and sent to wage a bloody war, like Putin is doing in Ukraine with the current generation. 

"Some 90 percent of the women who come are looking for a better future," interpreter Elena Shkitenkova, who has lived in Argentina for 20 years and helps expectant mothers in their administrative processes, told AFP. 

"There have been cases of women that when they have discovered they are expecting a boy, they decided to come to Argentina." 

The South American country bestows nationality on anyone born in Argentina, meaning those Russian boys born here would be able to avoid any eventual conscription when they become men. 

"They tell me: 'I want my son to live, I want peace for my son, I want a better future'," added Shkitenkova. 

The parents too are desperate to escape the war. 

"The war in Ukraine influenced our decision to come to Argentina, although that was not the only reason," Elena, 32, a mother of three girls who did not give her surname, told AFP. 

"It is certain that if we had stayed in Russia, my husband probably would have been conscripted," she added. 

The parents of Argentine babies are afforded residency rights and an accelerated process to apply for citizenship. 

Elena's youngest daughter, Severina, was born in Buenos Aires in May. 

"We want to stay here and assimilate. Our residency application is in progress," she said. 

At the Sanatorio Finochietto clinic, there is a noticeable presence of Russian families and pregnant women. 

Guillermo Capuya, who is in charge of the clinic's institutional relations, says the arrival of pregnant Russians "began very slowly" about a year ago, around the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

"We did not imagine it would become a phenomenon, but in the last quarter it started to increase exponentially" to the point that in December a quarter of the 200 births in the clinic were to Russian mothers. 

'It's an avalanche' 

Most of the Russians do not speak Spanish and almost none have ever visited Argentina before. 

But what is happening now "is an avalanche," said Florencia Carignano, the migration agency director. 

They mostly arrive on flights from Amsterdam, Istanbul and Addis Ababa. 

Carignano says there are 14 or 15 pregnant Russians on each of those flights. 

More than 5,800 have arrived in the last three months. 

There is nothing new about Russians seeking dual nationality for their children, a man who created an agency to help expectant parents in Argentina told AFP under condition of anonymity. 

Before, the preferred destination was the United States. 

The "package" deal for giving birth in Argentina can cost up to $15,000, he said. 

"If you have a bit of money and are able to have your child born outside Russia, you will do it. It's easy to acquire Argentine citizenship and you get treated a lot better than with the red Russian passport," he said. 

According to the federal police, some networks charge up to $35,000 for birthing tourism. 

Authorities are worried mafia organizations could be trying to get access to Argentine passports. 

Police conducted a raid in Buenos Aires last week, seizing telephones, documents and several currencies, although no arrests were made. 

The Argentine passport allows you to travel to 175 countries without a visa, around 50 more than with a Russian passport.

Vatican returns shrunken 'warrior' head to Ecuador

Yahoo – AFP, 16 December 2017

It is very rare for a historical artifact to be returned by the Vatican museums,
which boast one of the largest collections of art and archaeology in the world

The Vatican museum has returned a shrunken head to Ecuador, relinquishing the wizened cranium of an Amazon warrior nearly 100 years after it was taken by a missionary.

The grisly body part -- which belonged to the Shuar indigenous people -- was handed over during Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno's visit to Pope Francis on Saturday after months of negotiations, the Vatican said.

It is very rare for a historical artifact to be returned by the Vatican museums, which boast one of the largest collections of art and archaeology in the world.

The fist-sized capitulum, which never went on show, is believed to have been a war trophy for the Shuar, who mummified and kept the heads of their warrior enemies, as well as their heroes.

The Shuar are still one of the most important ethnic groups in the Amazon region. In recent years they have hit the headlines for attempting to resist government-authorised large-scale mining on land they claim as their own.

They used to be best known in the West for their shrunken heads -- called "tsantsa".

Removing the skull, boiling the flesh then sowing up the eyes, nose and mouth is believed to have trapped avenging souls inside, or stored the wisdom of their elders.

The head, brought to the Vatican by a missionary in 1925, will be given to the Pumapungo ethnographic museum in Cuenca.

Colombia declares FARC war over as last guns roll away

Yahoo – AFP, August 15, 2017

"With the laying down of arms ... the conflict is truly over and a new phase begins
 in the life of our nation," Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said (AFP
Photo/LUIS ROBAYO)

Bogota (AFP) - Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos declared the country's 50-year conflict with FARC guerrillas "truly over" Tuesday, as the last truckloads of decommissioned weapons rolled away to be melted down.

Santos himself shut a padlock on the last lot of decommissioned rifles before it was taken out of a remote demobilization camp to formally seal the UN-supervised disarmament by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

"With the laying down of arms ... the conflict is truly over and a new phase begins in the life of our nation," Santos said at a ceremony in Pondores, a remote area in the northern Guajira department.

"This is truly a historic moment for the country," he said.

"We have been a republic for 198 years. Never had we had such a long conflict and today is indeed the last breath of that conflict."

The leftist rebel force has said it will officially transform into a political party on September 1, a major step in reintegrating into civilian life as part of a historic peace deal signed last year.

"Soon we will be holding a founding congress for the new political party that will be called the Alternative Revolutionary Force of Colombia," said one of the FARC's senior leaders, Ivan Marquez, at Tuesday's ceremony.

The FARC was born in May 1964 from a peasants' revolt, and its ranks were made up mostly of country-dwellers who rallied behind the group's Marxist-Leninist ideology, with land reform its key demand.

As well as a quarter of a million dead, about 60,000 Colombians remain unaccounted for and seven million have been displaced in the conflict.

Obama honors victims of US-backed Argentina dictators

Yahoo – AFP, Andrew Beatty, 25 March 2016

US President Barack Obama (L) walks with Argentinian President Mauricio Macri 

at the "Parque de la Memoria" (Remembrance Park) in Buenos Aires on March 24, 

2016 (AFP Photo/Nicholas Kamm)

Buenos Aires (AFP) - President Barack Obama paid homage Thursday to victims of Argentina's former US-backed dictatorship, admitting the United States was "slow to speak out for human rights" in those dark days.

Obama became the first US president to formally acknowledge the victims of the 1976-1983 military regime, which declassified documents have revealed was supported by top US officials.

"There's been controversy about the policies of the United States early in those dark days, and the United States, when it reflects on what happened here, has to examine its own policies as well, and its own past," Obama said.

He spoke at Remembrance Park, a monument in Buenos Aires to the 30,000 people who were killed or went missing under the dictatorship. He paid tribute to victims' families.

"Democracies have to have the courage to acknowledge when we don't live up to the ideals that we stand for; when we've been slow to speak out for human rights. And that was the case here."

US President Barack Obama (L) and Argentinian President Mauricio Macri deliver

 statements during a visit to the "Parque de la Memoria" (Remembrance Park) to pay

 homage to Dirty War's victims in Buenos Aires on March 24, 2016 (AFP Photo/

Nicholas Kamm)

Tens of thousands of people joined a noisy demonstration later in Buenos Aires to mark the 40th anniversary of the US-backed coup that brought the dictators to power.

They marched to the din of drums, carrying pictures of the victims. Similar anniversary marches were called in towns across the country.

Some rights groups complained Obama had not gone far enough.

"The self-criticism was totally light," said Taty Almeida, founder of the victims' campaign group Madres Linea Fundadora.

She added that Argentine President Mauricio Macri and Obama "insisted we have to look to the future. They do not acknowledge the genocide and state terrorism that was supported by the United States."

Coup anniversary

Victims' groups had been angered by the choice of the date for Obama's visit, given the US support for the coup at the time.

US President Barack Obama (L) and Argentinian President Mauricio Macri throw

 a bouquet of white flowers into the River Plate on March 24, 2016 (AFP Photo/

Nicholas Kamm)

But they welcomed his promise to declassify further documents to shed more light on the fates of the regime's victims.

After the memorial ceremony Obama with his wife Michelle, her mother and the couple's daughters flew to the Andean resort of Bariloche, where they went for a hike and boat ride in a national park.

Locals lined the road smiling and waving as Obama's motorcade took the family from Bariloche airport, but at one place a crowd of protesters demonstrated noisily, some raising their middle fingers.

Tango diplomacy

In 2002, Washington declassified 4,000 diplomatic cables that showed US officials encouraged the Argentine junta's purge of leftists.

Obama promised to declassify other sensitive military and intelligence records linked to the "dirty war."

US President Barack Obama dances tango with

 Argentinian dancer Mora Godoy during a state

dinner at the Kirchner Cultural Centre in Buenos

Aires on March 23, 2016 (AFP Photo/Nicholas

Kamm)

They may shed more light on US involvement in secret police operations against dissidents in other South American states including Chile, Uruguay, Bolivia and Brazil.

Obama has tried to present a softer side of US power in Latin America during the trip this week that took him first to Cuba and then Argentina.

In Havana, he attended a baseball match with Cuba's Communist President Raul Castro and even made an appearance playing dominoes in a television show with Cuban comedians.

In Buenos Aires, he joked about tasting Argentina's national beverage mate and trying to meet football superstar Lionel Messi.

He danced tango at a state dinner in the city on Wednesday.

US creditors

On the first bilateral visit by a US president to Argentina since Bill Clinton in 1997, Obama hoped to nurture a new regional ally.

He praised Macri for the economic reforms he has passed since taking office in December after 12 years of leftist rule by the late Nestor Kirchner and his wife Cristina.

Obama also welcomed Macri's "constructive approach" in reaching a deal with US creditors to settle debts dating to Argentina's financial crisis in 2002.

He said it had led to the "possibility of a resolution" that could let Argentina back into international financial markets.

German gunmaker Sig Sauer faces criminal charges over Mexico drug killings

German weapons maker Sig Sauer is facing a second lawsuit on suspicion of illegally exporting guns to Latin America. A Mexican drug cartel member has confessed to killing 12 people with one of its handguns.

Deutsche Welle, 31 Aug 2015

German anti-weapons campaigner Jürgen Grässlin has filed charges against Sig Sauer after revelations that a Mexican drug cartel member used one of the company's 9mm handguns to kill 12 people - including a prominent human rights campaigner.

The charges - on suspicion of illegal weapons exports - were filed following the release of Chihuahua court documents about the 2010 murder of Marisela Escobedo. The 52-year-old woman became a prominent activist in Chihuahua after a man who confessed to murdering her 16-year-old daughter was acquitted by a Mexican court.

In a short documentary aired on Sunday night, German state TV network ARD showed CCTV footage of the murderer chasing Escobedo across a street in the city of Chihuahua and shooting her in the back of the head.

Sig Sauer's slogan is "When it counts"

"It's a particularly horrifying case, but it's also a special case - it's very rare," said Grässlin. "We have a convicted killer who confessed that he killed at least 12 people, and the gun's serial number - and Sig Sauer themselves say it is one of their guns."

"We don't know where exactly the gun was assembled - but we know it was German expertise, German technology - either separately or in one piece - and it found its way to the perpetrator in Mexico - the fact that he had it was illegal, because there was no export license," he told DW.

Mother and daughter killed

Escobedo's daughter Ruby disappeared in 2008, and her mother, frustrated at the slow police investigation, found out for herself that Ruby had been killed in 2008 by her boyfriend, a member of the Los Zetas drug cartel. He was subsequently arrested, confessed, and led the police to her body - only to be acquitted for lack of evidence. ARD showed Escobedo break out in tears in a courtroom in 2010 as the verdict was read, before screaming at the judge and storming out.

For the next seven months until her murder, Escobedo campaigned against Mexico's judiciary, which has often been accused of corruption, before finally confronting the chief state prosecutor himself. "I am convinced that she signed her own death sentence on that day," lawyer Gabino Gomez, a close associate of Escobedo, told ARD.

Unlike her daughter's boyfriend, Escobedo's killer - another member of Los Zetas - was convicted, and the Sig Sauer gun was identified as the murder weapon (among an arsenal of some 200 firearms found in his possession). "Now we know that it was a 9mm gun, from a German firm," said Gomez. "According to the files, he killed another 11 people with this weapon alone."

No export license

Grässlin has campaigned against
German weapons exports for
more than 20 years

Chihuahua is one of four Mexican states that the German government has declared as too dangerous and corrupt to export weapons to, and the German Economy Ministry has confirmed that Sig Sauer has not been granted an export license to Mexico since 2000.

Sig Sauer did not respond to a request for comment from DW, but according to ARD it has claimed that the murder weapon was produced at its factory in New Hampshire, in the US, and sold, probably in a batch of several hundred, to a legal dealer in Mexico.

"But if they want to pass on deliveries, to Colombia, to Mexico, to Venezuela or wherever, they need another export license," Grässlin told DW. "This definitely didn't happen." According to Germany's Federal Office of Export Control, an export license is still necessary if "technology from Germany has been exported to the subsidiary company in the US in advance," and confirmed that it had not received an application for a license from Sig Sauer.

Sig Sauer, which is based in Eckernförde, northern Germany, is already under significant legal pressure after it was revealed last year that tens of thousands of its handguns, manufactured in Germany, found their way to Colombia via its US subsidiary. Grässlin pressed charges against the firm over the revelations in July 2014, and within days the German government banned the company from exporting any more weapons.

Related Article:

"The Biggest Filter" - July 18-19, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“..  War - Nobody Sees What is Coming

Let's talk about war. Let's discuss something that very few are considering. What you expect next is completely and totally out of perspective of what's actually coming, because you only have one kind of knowledge about war. Your war has advanced over history with bigger explosions, higher yields and weapons that fire faster. Nuclear, laser, sound - all are far more efficient ways to terminate life. That's how war has evolved. However, there hasn't really been anything called anti-war devices, have there?

I'm going to give you an invitation for discovery, and some are already in the postulation stage of this. Multidimensional fields change 3D reality. Period. I've told you that lurking in your future are discoveries that will help you with every aspect of your life, mainly due to the discovery of what makes basic physics do what it does at the atomic level. If you fully understand multidimensionality, you can manipulate the formula for mass and create massless objects. You can even do it with the tools you have right now.

There is physics possible that can create certain kinds of fields - listen to me - certain kinds of heretofore unseen multidimensional fields that are harmless to your biology, but will alter some attributes of 3D. These fields are designer fields, and they are isolated and specifically designed for one purpose. When in the field, conventional explosive reactions can't happen. Can you imagine putting a field within rooms of a building so that no matter what weapon is fired, whether it's a machine gun or a pistol, it simply won't work! What about targeting an airplane when it drops a bomb and it won't explode? This is pure physics. The alteration of 3D reality through multidimensional designer fields, both small and large, is coming. I know you don't believe it, but just wait. As you start to discover multidimensional physics and the ability to control it, you will discover that there is a "benevolent attitude" of this kind of physics. You can't "weaponize it" as easily as you can 3D. It is an entirely different kind of reality.

Again, I tell you that when you understand how mass is created at the atomic level, you'll learn how to create massless objects. By the way, that has another name. You call it anti-gravity, but there is no such thing. It's just the ability to finally control the formula that creates gravity with mass. You understand that this is simple physics, don't you? And it's very easy to manipulate for benevolent uses through other fields that you do know about. Just like you have learned to control certain kinds of physics that are 3D, you can also control multidimensional physics. Imagine a planet where it doesn't matter what war device you had, it wouldn't work anymore! What do you think about that? Imagine physics having the ability to shatter the molecules of a biological weapon. Do you think that would change world politics? It's happening, it's going to happen. It's in the laboratory today. You're broaching the discovery of multidimensional physics. Being able to control that which you don't think is controllable is what you are doing. It's going to make such a difference to the Human race!

You don't believe it, since your knowledge of how things work just doesn't allow for such a thing. This is your filter.  ….”

Salvadoran 'voice of voiceless' archbishop Romero beatified

Business Insider – AFP, Marco Sibaja, Carlos Mario Marquez, May 23, 2015

Thousands of Catholic faithful participate in a ceremony celebrating the beatification
 of martyr archbishop Oscar Romero at Las Americas square in San Salvador,
on May 23, 2015

San Salvador (AFP) - Cheers rang from a crowd of hundreds of thousands Saturday as former archbishop Oscar Romero, whose defense of the poor and repressed divided both his nation and the Church, was beatified.

Officials estimated some 300,000 worshipers attended the massive ceremony on San Salvador's main square, where Pope Francis's envoy, Angelo Amato, conferred the title of "blessed" on Romero, putting him one step from sainthood.

Waving flags and decked out in t-shirts printed with Romero's face, jubilant crowds carrying placards and photos of the archbishop came out for the event.

Amato read a letter from the Pope proclaiming to the crowd that Romero "henceforth is called blessed."

"By virtue of our apostolic authority, we empower the venerable servant of God, Oscar Arnulfo Romero Galdamez," with the honor, Amato said.

The huge crowd applauded following the declaration, a choir sang, and a giant portrait of Romero was unveiled to audience cheers.

Four presidents and delegations from 57 countries paid tribute to the man nicknamed the "Voice of the Voiceless," who was shot through the heart by a sniper on March 24, 1980 while delivering mass in a hospital chapel.

Amato said the date would be celebrated as Romero's feast, part of a Catholic tradition that associates each day with one or more saint.

The late archbishop's younger brother Gaspar Romero represented his family on stage, with some 100 members attending the event.

"As a family, we are honored by this gift given to us by our Lord through the Pope, we now have a saint in the family that everyone already calls Saint Romero of America," said 85-year-old Gaspar.

For some, Romero's beatification secures his place in history. 

"We all feel indescribable joy for his beatification. We never met Monsignor Romero in life, but our parents have told us about him and his legacy," said 21-year-old Carmen Ayala.

Others were there to celebrate his core principle of defending the needy.

"Today we glorify the bishop who championed the poor and whose truth prevailed over lies," said Juan Flores, wearing a Romero shirt. 

An inspiration and a martyr 

US President Barack Obama welcomed Romero's beatification, calling him an inspiration and a martyr.

"He was a wise pastor and a courageous man who persevered in the face of opposition from extremes on both sides," Obama said in a statement.

"He fearlessly confronted the evils he saw, guided by the needs of his beloved pueblo, the poor and oppressed people of El Salvador."

US Secretary of State John Kerry called Romero "a courageous defender of human rights," congratulating the people of El Salvador for the beatification of a man who guided them at "a time of deep division and sorrow."

Security was tight at Saturday's gathering, with helicopters and military airplanes hovering over the proceeding.

On Friday, thousands joined a rain-soaked procession, walking two kilometers (1.2 miles) to the crypt in San Salvador's cathedral where Romero's remains lie. 

The movement to make Romero a saint was long resisted by conservative Catholics and the Salvadoran right, who saw veiled Marxism in his sermons eulogizing the poor and radio broadcasts condemning government repression.

The petition languished for years at the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints, finally moving forward in February when Pope Francis named Romero a martyr for the Church, one of the paths to sainthood.

Though Romero remains controversial in El Salvador, criticism is more muted than in the past.

Even El Salvador's right-wing Arena party showed its support for the archbishop in a Saturday newspaper advertisement.

"We join the celebration of the Catholic Church in the beatification of Archbishop Romero and share his message of reconciliation," the ad read.

But not everyone at Saturday's gathering joined the praise.

"Outside of El Salvador, he has the image of a saint, but here he is known as a figure who sowed division among Salvadorans," said 28-year-old businessman Alberto Mojica.

Romero's assassination occurred at the outset of El Salvador's civil war, and propelled the country deeper into a brutal conflict that raged until 1992, when the right-wing government signed a peace deal with the leftist guerrillas of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN).

No one was ever convicted of Romero's killing, but a UN-sponsored truth commission concluded it was carried out by a right-wing death squad under the orders of Roberto D'Aubuisson, a former army officer who died the year the war ended. 

Argentina to Declassify Falklands War Files

Jakarta Globe, AFP, Apr 03, 2015

A veteran of the 1982 Falklands War pays tribute to the Argentine servicemen who
 died in the South Atlantic conflict between Britain and Argentina on the 33rd
anniversary of the war over the island chain in Rosario on April 2, 2015. (Reuters
Photo/Enrique Marcarian)

Buenos Aires. Argentine President Cristina Kirchner said on Thursday she has ordered the declassification of all secret documents on the 1982 Falklands War with Britain.

Speaking on the 33rd anniversary of Argentina’s invasion of the disputed South Atlantic islands, which it calls the Malvinas, Kirchner said the defense ministry had 30 days to make all files on the conflict public.

She also used the anniversary — commemorated in Argentina as the Day of the Veterans and Fallen of the Malvinas Islands War — to criticize Britain’s recent announcement that it will beef up its defenses in the islands.

Kirchner said Argentina was determined to gain sovereignty over the islands, but through peaceful means.

“International law and dialogue, not militarization, are the path to a reunion and sovereignty,” she said at a ceremony in the city of Ushuaia, at the southern tip of South America.

“We will see the islands form part of our territory again. It’s not just wishful thinking,” she told an audience that included war veterans in dress uniform.

British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon last week announced plans to spend 180 million pounds ($267 million) over 10 years to counter “continuous intimidation” from Argentina in the Falklands.

Kirchner’s government condemned the measure as “provocation.”

Argentina claims it inherited the remote, wind-swept islands from Spain when it gained independence.

Britain argues it has historically ruled the islands and that the islanders should have the right to self-determination. In a 2013 referendum, 99.8 percent voted to remain a British overseas territory.

The dispute has flared again in recent years since the discovery of significant oil deposits off the islands.

The 74-day Falklands War claimed the lives of 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British soldiers and three islanders.

The remains of 123 Argentines killed in the war have never been identified.

In 2012, Kirchner asked the International Committee of the Red Cross to mediate with the British government so DNA samples could be taken from the bodies, which are buried on the island in graves marked “Argentine soldier known only to God.”

Argentina’s secretary for the Malvinas, Daniel Filmus, said officials had finished taking DNA from the soldiers’ relatives for comparison.

“Now we just need to make progress on the humanitarian aspect,” he said.

Agence France-Presse

Colombia's president suspends air attacks on FARC camps

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has called an immediate halt to aerial bombings against the Marxist FARC rebels. The move follows a unilateral ceasefire declared by guerrillas three months ago.

Deutsche Welle, 11 March 2015

Until Tuesday, the Columbian government had refused to halt attacks against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) or to reciprocate the ceasefire which was declared by the rebels on December 18, 2014.

In a televised address on Tuesday, President Santos said he had made the decision to cease bombings for a month in light of progress that was being made in negotiations with FARC, which started in 2012.

The ongoing talks hope to bring an end to a five-decade-long-war which has killed around 220,000 people and displaced millions.

Recognized ceasefire

"To start the de-escalation of the conflict, I have decided to order the minister of defense and armed forces commanders to stop bombing raids on FARC camps for a month," Santos said.

Santos also hinted on Tuesday that the suspension of government-led air raids could be extended if the guerillas continue hold their self-declared ceasefire.

"In regards to the indefinite, unilateral ceasefire declared by the FARC on December 18, we must recognize that they have fulfilled it," Santos said.

Santos' conservative opponents, however, said Tuesday's decision is likely to demoralize Colombian troops and give valuable breathing room to rebels who've seen their ranks decrease by more than half to fewer than 6,000 combatants during a decade-long, US-backed assault.

Ongoing negotiations

Negotiators involved in the two-year-old talks in Havana, Cuba, have already reached partial deals on land reform, rebels' participation in politics and an end to the illegal drug trade. They are now tackling victim reparations and rebel demobilization.

Following the latest round of talks which came to a close on Saturday, the two sides announced a joint effort to begin removing landmines across the country.

The Columbian government and FARC rebels must still resolve several tough issues - the most problematic being the demand of rebel negotiators who seek to avoid any imprisonment for atrocities allegedly committed by troops under their command.

ksb/sms (Reuters, AFP, AP)

Pope Francis calls for peace, end to slavery in 2015

The head of the Roman Catholic Church has called on people of all religions to come together to end slavery and human trafficking. The pope also called for an end to armed conflicts.

Deutsche Welle, 1 Dec 2015

Speaking to tens of thousands of worshippers gathered in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City on Thursday, Pope Francis called for an end to wars.

"Peace is always possible, always possible, and we must seek it," the pontiff said. "Let us pray for peace."

Earlier, he used a service in St. Peter's Basilica to promote January 1 as the Vatican-declared "World Day of Peace," as well as this year's theme, "Slaves no more, but brothers and sisters."

"Slaves no more because wars turn us all into slaves," the 78-year-old Francis said.

"All of us are called (by God) to be free, all are called to be sons and daughters, and each, according to his or her own responsibilities, is called to combat modern forms of enslavement. From every people, culture and religion, let us join our forces," he added.

Nearly 36 million people worldwide were trapped in some form of slavery over the past year, according to a report released in November by the human rights group Walk Free Foundation.

The Argentina-born pope is to make his first foreign visit of 2015 to Sri Lanka and the Philippines later this month.

pfd/nm (Reuters, dpa, AP)

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"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  8 - The End of War

The last one is the best. For thousands of years on this planet, Human Beings have warred with each other. If you take a look at the reasons they warred with each other, you will quickly see there aren't any good ones - land, resources, greed. Those are not reasons. That is a description of old energy. Those are not reasons. Reasons would be perhaps defense against an aggressor. But what if there is no longer the consciousness of the aggressor?

When I appeared in my partner's life more than 20 years ago, I said to him privately that the first messages we're going to give will be unbelievable. There would be laughter. We told him that Human nature and consciousness itself would change, and that the seeds of peace would be planted and there would come a time where there is no more war. Indeed, the laughter was great because humans look at history and they see patterns based on an absolute energy called Human Nature. "Impossible! There always has to be war. There always has been. Therefore, there always will be." This is you, in a box, in a black and white potential, where you can only see the black and white of what is and the black and white of what has been. You have no idea the shades of color that are there in your consciousness and the beauty of the love of God.

North Korea is on the edge of change, as we told you it might be. What did this require? The death of the old energy, and I want you to watch this take place. The advisors of the young leader are going to do their best to pull him back into an old energy. This free choice of his will be far different than his father, for he sees some color. Watch for these things. They'll take longer than you want, but it is the beginning of the beginning.

You'll see a fresh unification of South America sooner than not, for what is going to take place potentially this year in Venezuela. You'll see Iran changing. We have no clock. These are the potentials. These can change with free choice. These are not prophecies. This is a reality shift, dear ones, so number eight becomes the propensity not to war again. This is what Humans are going to want. This is what governments are going to want. There is a wisdom factor that will begin to happen on the planet that is grander than what you think is possible. For when you look at government, what do you think about? You see dysfunction, and there is an axiom that says the more people that try to do something together, the worse it gets. It all settles to the lowest common denominator. I'm telling you even those things are going to become old energy concepts. Instead, you're going to watch wisdom become the top potential.

I have no clock. I cannot tell you when. I can just tell you it is in the works, and there will be the seeds of it for you to observe soon - right now, in every single of the eight categories I showed you.

There are those who will say, "Well, Kryon, you're doing a lot more predictions than you used to." I want to tell you what's going on, dear one. I am not predicting anything. I am just telling you what's already there in the potential soup of your reality. That's what Humans are doing on this planet, and for those who believe this communication, you should breathe a sigh of relief and say, "It's about time." ….”