Next Monday, April 13, a meeting will take place between the writer José Saramago and the Colombian politician Sigifredo López, under the title 'Testimony of a kidnapping: a future in peace for Colombia', which will be moderated by Fernando Gómez Aguilera, director of activities of the César Manrique Foundation (FCM), who is organizing the event together with the José Saramago Foundation.
The meeting will be in the José Saramago room of the Plazuela, at 8:30 p.m. Sigifredo López was kidnapped by the FARC for almost seven years and was released last February after the mediation of the Colombian senator Piedad Córdoba, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Colombians for Peace movement.
In the meeting, José Saramago and Sigifredo López will talk about the experience of the Colombian politician's captivity, reflect on the conflict situation in the country and the possible solutions that are being considered to normalize the situation.
López Tobón was a deputy in the departmental Assembly of Valle del Cauca when he was kidnapped by the guerrillas on April 11, 2002, along with 11 other deputies who were murdered during captivity. Upon being released, Sigifredo López compared Piedad Córdoba with the doctor's wife in José Saramago's novel 'Blindness', which provoked a deep emotion in the Portuguese writer, who reflected it in his blog with the following text:
"I have never been able to boast of emotional firmness. I cry easily, and not because of age. But this time I was forced to burst into tears when Sigifredo, to express his infinite gratitude to Piedad Córdoba, compared her to the doctor's wife in 'Blindness'. Put yourselves in my place, thousands of kilometers separated me from those images, from those words and poor me, broken in tears, had no choice but to take refuge on Pilar's shoulder and let them run. My entire existence as a man and a writer is justified by that moment. Thank you Sigifredo".
ACN Press
