Colombia and ELN agree to peace dialogue
The first agreement since the start of negotiations between the Colombian government and the armed rebel organization the National Liberation Army (ELN) was announced.
The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, announced the first agreement with the ELN for the safe return of displaced indigenous people in the western part of the country. In statements to the press, Petro said that “just a week after starting talks with the ELN, the first point of agreement is to allow the Emberá indigenous people to return to their lands through this organization.”
Antonio García, one of the ELN leaders, said in a statement on Twitter: “Only changes in the country’s realities will lead us to peace. Therefore, I hope it will be a success thanks to the participation of society and the transformation of governments”.
PEACE AGREEMENT WITH THE FARC
The parties, who met in the capital Caracas, under the guarantor and host of Venezuela, resumed on November 22 the peace talks suspended in 2019.
At the meeting, which was also attended by observers from Norway and Venezuela, Otty Patino, a former member of the M-19 (April 19 movement), presided on behalf of the Colombian government, while Pablo Beltrán headed the ELN delegation.
The leftist Petro, who won Colombia’s presidential election and took office on August 7, has vowed to implement the 2016 Peace Agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and hold peace talks with the ELN when it comes to power. .
Colombia began negotiations with the ELN, which were interrupted many times during the Santos era, and these negotiations moved to Havana after Ecuador withdrew from guarantor and host.
According to experts, previous attempts at negotiations between the Colombian government and the ELN, which has more than 2,000 members and is estimated to be financed by methods such as drug trafficking, illegal mining and kidnapping, could not advance due to the separation of power and radical attitudes within the organization. Negotiations were suspended by then-President Iván Duque after the organization’s attack on a police school in 2019 that killed 22 people. (AA)