Support for Colombia's peace talks, drive to end sexual violence in conflicts, underlie British royals' visit
BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla will meet victims of Colombia's 50-year-old war against Marxist rebels during a state visit starting on Tuesday, aiming to strengthen bilateral ties as Colombia rallies support for a possible peace deal.
The Colombian government has been holding peace talks in Cuba with leaders of the Revolutionary Armed of Forces of Colombia (FARC) for nearly two years.
President Juan Manuel Santos has asked the European Union to set up a fund to help pay for infrastructure and development programmes and the reintegration of thousands of rebel fighters into civilian life, if a peace deal is signed.
Charles, heir to the British throne, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, will attend a ceremony at the Centre for Memory, Peace and Reconciliation in Bogota to honour and meet victims of the conflict, which has left more than 200,000 dead and displaced nearly six million.
The royal visit, taking place at the president's invitation, will also focus on survivors of sexual violence inflicted during the Colombian conflict.
Nearly 7,000 men, women and children have suffered rape or other sexual violence at the hands of warring factions, according to Colombia's war victims' register.
Camilla will meet government officials and local NGOs working to help rape survivors and prevent sexual violence being used as a weapon in Colombia's long-running conflict.
Britain has said it will help train Colombian prosecutors in handling cases of sexual violence, a result of the visit by Foreign Secretary William Hague in February on his drive to make tackling sexual violence in armed conflicts a top global priority.
"This visit confirms the close and warm relationship ... and will highlight Britain's support for important initiatives in Colombia to promote sustainability and peace," British ambassador Lindsay Croisdale-Appleby said in a statement earlier this month.
Charles, known for his long-standing commitment to conservation issues, will visit the Macarena national park in southern Colombia to see governments efforts to preserve swathes of mountainous Amazon rainforest and stem climate change.
The royal couple will end their five-day visit in the Caribbean colonial city of Cartagena where Charles is expected to speak at an international conference on sustainable marine life and development.
They will then head to Mexico for a state visit likely to be overshadowed by the human rights scandal that erupted when dozens of students were seized by police and drug cartel gunmen and disappeared one month ago.
They will visit Mexico City, the industrial city Monterrey, and the town of Real del Monte, which has had close ties with Cornwall since miners first arrived from Falmouth in the 1820s, bringing with them the Cornish pasty, the miners' lunch - a pastry casing holding chopped meat, potato and onions.
(Editing by Tim Pearce)
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