ELN official says two parties have taken the ‘first steps’ towards a temporary ceasefire while negotiations in Mexico City conclude.
Colombia’s government and the left-wing rebel group the National Liberation Army (ELN) have hailed progress in their efforts to end decades of armed conflict in the South American nation, as a Second round of the peace talks concluded in Mexico City.
Negotiations are taking place as part of an effort to President Gustavo Petro – the country’s first left-wing leader and former M-19 rebel – to reach peace or deliver agreements with armed groups and bring “total peace” to Colombia.
The ELN, founded by Catholic priests in 1964, is the greatest remaining rebel organization.
“We took the first steps to establish a bilateral, national and temporary ceasefire that will create better conditions for the mobilization and participation of Colombians in the peace process,” said Pablo Beltrán of the ELN on Friday.
Congratulations to the #Colombia government and the #THE N guerrillas on substantial progress in the peace talks in Mexico, on key issues such as participation, humanitarian aid and a future ceasefire.
Norway is ready to help as a guarantor country in the next round of talks in Cuba. pic.twitter.com/j4BckmQYa5— MFA of Norway (@NorwayMFA) March 10, 2023
Otty Patiño, head of the Colombian government delegation, said that creating a ceasefire will be a great challenge for the next cycle of talks that will take place in Cuba, as will developing a “pilot plan” for peace and expanding participation. in negotiations.
The first round of peace talks, held in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas late last year, resulted in diverging narratives. The Colombian government announced that a truce had been reached while the ELN denied having accepted any such agreement, saying that a ceasefire “was merely a proposal to be considered.”
Previous negotiations with the ELN have faltered amid the group’s fuzzy chain of command and dissent within its ranks.
In 2019, the former conservative president Iván Duque canceled the peace talks with the ELN after a car bomb attack at a police academy in Bogotá that killed 22 people.
ELN leaders have said that the fighters agree with the current talks.
On Friday, Norway and Mexico, which have served as facilitators in the negotiations, celebrated their progress.
“Congratulations to the (Colombian) government and the #ELN guerrillas for the substantial progress in the peace talks in Mexico, on key issues such as participation, humanitarian aid and the future ceasefire,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia tweeted. Norway.
The ELN has some 2,500 remaining fighters and has been accused of financing itself through drug trafficking, illegal mining and kidnapping.
Petro, who won elections in June, has also said he plans to fully implement a prior agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed in 2016.
More than 450,000 people have died in almost 60 years of armed conflict in the country.
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