Gloria Cuartas Ends Term as Apartado Mayor

22 December 1997

In a letter sent to the sister community of Dane County, Wisconsin, the Mayor of Apartado, Gloria Cuartas, presented her good-bye message. Gloria will leave her post on December 31, when she finishes the period of government that she was elected to serve. In addition to thanking the international community and especially the sister community of Dane County (Madison) Wisconsin through the Colombia Support Network, Gloria Cuartas looked back on her effort as Mayor, which she considered "humanly very difficult but that it "has left an open path" to "maintain and in the future raise the respect for life, human dignity and justice."

At the same time she called for the international community not to leave here alone now that she has finished her Mayoral term: "withoug the title of Mayor, and as a citizen, I need you to continue to accompany me, as difficult days will follow" and she adds "I will have difficulties in the future for having assumed a voice, but I trust in your accompaniment and my only truth, to serve."

Finally, she suggested some ongoing priorities for CSN:

• "support the community processes in Apartado"
• "accompany the return of the displaced families"
• "elevate the ability of the local administration to relegitimize the power of the civil society that can no longer continue to expect the degradation of the conflict"
• "strengthen democracy as a daily practice of coherence and justice"

To Read the complete text of the letter, click here