According to their joint statement, the parties consider that “the first round of peace talks”, which began on November 21, was successfully completed. The second will be held in Mexico at a date to be determined. However, it is expected to be held in January, according to a Mexican diplomat.
The Colombian government and the ELN rebel group completed the first round of peace talks in Caracas on Monday, in which the parties agreed on the release of prisoners and hostages and on humanitarian action — but did not agree on a mutual ceasefire. of fire.
According to their joint statement, the parties consider that “the first round of peace talks”, which began on November 21, was successfully completed. The second will be held in Mexico at a date to be determined. However, it is expected to be held in January, according to a Mexican diplomat.
Declaring a mutual ceasefire “was not discussed,” summed up Pablo Beltran, the head of the rebel delegation. “We hope to tackle this issue in the next cycle.”
The agreements concluded in the first round concluded yesterday in Venezuela, guarantor country of the peace process, together with Cuba and Norway, provide that the agenda set in 2016, at the beginning of the process, will be taken into account, however adapted to the “new frame”.
Negotiations with the ELN were interrupted by the right-wing ex-president Ivan Duque (2018-2022), after the car bomb attack on a police academy in Bogotá in 2019 (22 dead, in addition to the attacker).
The parties “recognize the serious situation (due to) violence” in the conflict-affected areas and pledge “humanitarian actions and dynamics” from January 2023.
They also agreed to grant “urgent humanitarian aid to a group of political prisoners” of the ELN.
The joint statement underlines that in a “clear demonstration of its commitment to peace in Colombia”, the ELN “released 20 people, including civilians and members of the security forces”.
The ELN, founded in 1964 by radicalized Roman Catholic priests, students and workers, inspired by the actions of Che Guevara and the revolution in Cuba, is today officially described as the last guerrilla organization that continues the armed struggle in Colombia, since its former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed a peace agreement with the then government in 2016.
Authorities estimate it has around 2,500 fighters, up from around 1,800 when peace talks began. The organization, with a “federal” structure, is present mainly in areas of Colombia that are wetted by the Pacific, as well as in sectors of the porous border with Venezuela, which is 2,200 kilometers long.
The ELN has held peace talks — without success — with the last five presidents of the Latin American country.
Current President Gustavo Petro, the first leftist in Colombia’s history, says his goal is “complete” peace in a country where the interminable civil war of the past six decades has claimed the lives of nearly half a million people.
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