Colombia And ELN Guerrillas Announce To Start Peace Talks Again 

The Colombian government and a delegation from the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas declared on Tuesday they would restart peace talks that have been on hold since 2019 next month. The ELN is one of the largest guerrilla forces still active in the region. Born as a Marxist rebel force in the 1960s, the group funds its activities through kidnapping, extortion, and involvement in the narcotics trade. It has recently expanded operations in southern Venezuela, where it holds illegal mining operations.

ELN commander Antonio Garcia said in Caracas that the two parties would re-establish the talks after the first week of November 2022 with Venezuela, Cuba, and Norway as guarantors for the talks, CGTN reported.

Venezuela is one of the participants in the negotiation process, which was launched over six years ago but halted in 2019 by former Colombian president Ivan Duque. His successor, Gustavo Petro, has made advancing peace talks a priority in his administration since taking office in August.

Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement that United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised the announcement and thanked Venezuela alongside Cuba and Norway for easing the procedure. Djuric also said that the Secretary-General hoped that Colombians can prove once again that even the most entrenched conflicts can be settled through dialogue.

Also, CNN reported, Guterres urged both forces to fully seize this opportunity to obtain an end to a deadly dispute that has lasted for decades. This resolution is vital for expanding the scope of peace in the country. He also noted the agreement of the parties to build their talks on the progress they have made in earlier negotiations. In addition, they are agreeable to the significance they attach to the participation of civil society in the building of peace.

Last month, Colombia and Venezuela reestablished diplomatic ties after more than two years, seeking to resume dialogues with guerrilla forces that control huge parts of territory across the Colombian and Venezuelan border. The country’s high commissioner for peace, Danilo Rueda, traveled to Cuba to meet ELN representatives in Havana days after the August inauguration of Gustavo Petro, the first left-wing president to lead Colombia.

“We think that, with this opportunity, Colombia’s new political circumstances have allowed negotiations to restart,” Garcia told journalists Tuesday. Asked about the possibility of a bilateral ceasefire, Rueda said the parties were still “in a phase of building trust” and that whatever is agreed upon will be by both sides and will be fulfilled, as reported by Al Jazeera.

The ELN did not give any details on what it seeks in exchange for laying down its weapons. But the commander, Garcia, hinted that the group was looking for a change in politics and the economy.