Units of the Colombian armed forces and fighters of the rebel group Army of National Liberation (ELN, Guberistas) will stop their offensive operations within the week, with a view to the implementation of a full ceasefire from the beginning of August.

This step was agreed in June at the peace talks in Havana between the government and this movement, officially the last to continue the armed struggle in the Latin American state. The purpose of the talks is for the country to finally turn the page on the civil war, which has lasted for around sixty years and has cost the lives of around half a million people.

“From 00:00 on July 6 to 00:00 on August 3, 2023, ELN structures must cease all aggressive military actions against the armed forces and police throughout the country, including intelligence gathering operations “, said the leadership of the organization in a statement published yesterday Tuesday.

The rebels will be able to defend themselves if their units are attacked or threatened, he said.

The government’s peace commissioner, Danilo Rueda, assured yesterday that the country’s president, Gustavo Petros, is also going to release a statement to the same effect, with which he will give explicit, specific orders to the armed forces.

The full ceasefire will begin on August 3 and, at least in theory, will last for six months. This is the most tangible result to date in the peace negotiations, which began in November 2022 and are part of the efforts of the social democratic President Petro, the first in the history of Colombia to belong to the left, to finally end the complex war between the powers of government, rebel factions, far-right paramilitary organizations and drug-trafficking gangs.

Past efforts to broker a negotiated peace deal between Colombian governments and the ELN have failed in part because the far-left organization is decentralized and often sows divisions within its ranks.

The ELN had some 5,850 fighters in 2020, according to Colombian Defense Ministry figures.