Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt spend Christmas with Colombian refugees
by Ana Fernandez Tue Dec 26, 7:50 AM ET
SAN JOSE (AFP) - Hollywood power couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have made a lightning trip to Costa Rica to spend Christmas Day with Colombian refugees living in that Central American country.
The paparazzi magnets wanted a low-profile visit with no news media, so reporters were notified only after they had left the country, said Josef Merkx, the representative of the
United Nations' refugee agency, the UNHCR.
Jolie, a UNHCR goodwill ambassador since 2001, and her partner Pitt arrived in San Jose around mid-day Monday. They stopped by several small businesses setup by refugees with help from a UNHCR microcredit program, then met with refugee families and handed out Christmas gifts.
They also saw a group of young refugees perform a dance routine.
"We are automatically associated with bad things -- crime, delinquency, drug trafficking -- but people never think of us as victims of the conflict," said one of the performers, speaking to Jolie and Pitt after the performance, according to a UNHCR statement in English.
"They never think, maybe this person, this refugee, had to leave everything behind to come here."
Jolie said there was a need for greater tolerance and solidarity toward refugees around the world.
"It's been sad for me to hear so many negative stories that show confusion between refugees, who are the victims of the conflict, and some criminal elements," she said.
Colombia's four-decade-old conflict has displaced three million people within the country, and forced another half a million to flee abroad.
In Costa Rica there are 11,500 refugees, some 10,000 of which are from Colombia, Merkx said. The two countries do not have a common border but share historic ties.
"It is especially shocking that such a tragedy can go on, year after year, with the rest of the world paying so little attention to it," said Jolie.
"My Christmas message to Colombian refugees and to the millions of displaced people in Colombia is that the world has not totally forgotten them," she said.
The movie megastars then met with the Costa Rican ministers of Labor and Interior, and the vice-minister of Foreign Affairs.
"We had a wonderful Christmas here with the Costa Rican people and refugee families," Jolie said as she prepared to leave.
Carlos, a 45-year-old Colombian refugee, was grateful for the visit. "We know what you have been doing for us. Thank you for being here with us today and thank you for all your work," he shouted as he waved goodbye.
The last time Jolie was in the region was in 2002, when she traveled to Ecuador to visit another group of Colombian refugees.
Jolie, 31, won an Oscar for her role in the 1999 film "Girl, Interrupted," has a baby daughter -- Shiloh, 7 months -- with Pitt, 43. The couple also has two adopted children, ages five and two.
Jolie and Pitt first starred together in the 2003 action flick "Mr and Mrs Smith."
Currently Jolie is starring alongside Matt Damon in "The Good Shepherd," a Robert De Niro film about the early history of the CIA.
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