Colombia suspends ceasefire decree with the ELN, after the group denied an agreement

First modification: 04/01/2023 – 18:16

Colombia ceases the recently announced ceasefire decree with the ELN, but does not give up on its aspirations for a truce.

The Minister of the Interior, Alfonso Prada, reported this Wednesday, January 4, that the Government suspends the six-month ceasefire with the guerrilla group calling itself the National Liberation Army, which would have entered into force since January 1.

In total, the Gustavo Petro administration had decrees to stop clashes with five illegal armed groups, including criminal gangs such as the Clan del Golfo and dissident groups led by former members of the now-demobilized FARC.

Prada remarked that it only suspends the ordinance related to the aforementioned illegal movement, with which Bogotá maintains peace negotiations.

The decision comes after Tuesday, January 3, the ELN assured that “there is no agreement” to stop the fighting. A version that contradicted what was announced by the country’s authorities only two days before.

According to the ELN version, it was a proposal that was not in force and that would be discussed in the ongoing rounds of negotiations with the Government.

“Given the position publicly assumed yesterday (…) we have decided to suspend the legal effects of Decree 2657 of December 31, 2022,” Prada said at a press conference, accompanied by the Defense Minister, the Peace Commissioner and senior commanders of the Colombian Army.

The change of course less than four days after the initial announcement is a setback for the plans of President Petro, who grew up politically in the extinct M-19 guerrilla, to reach a new peace agreement after the pact reached with the FARC, in 2016, under the government of the then president Juan Manuel Santos.

A bet that seeks to end the Colombian internal conflict of almost six decades, which leaves more than 450,000 dead, according to official figures.

Colombian government insists on a “verifiable” truce with the ELN

Despite the withdrawal of the decree, the Minister of the Interior made it clear that the Government will continue to seek a truce with the ELN. “During the next (negotiation) cycle, the dialogue on this matter would be reactivated,” he said.

“The ELN on several occasions has raised the importance of advancing in a bilateral cessation. On December 19, after declaring a unilateral cessation by this organization, he asked the national government to act in accordance with its desire for peace and study the possibility of a bilateral cessation. Under this understanding, the Government of Colombia decreed the bilateral cessation,” said Prada.

The government also urged the ELN to declare a verifiable truce while the issue is discussed in negotiations, the next round of which will take place in Mexico.

“Only when we have fully agreed on the conditions of the protocols will we be able to lift the suspension,” said Prada, noting that in the meantime the country’s Army and Police can continue their offensive against illegal armed groups.

In Colombia, some critics consider that it was a non-existent truce and the head of the government delegation in the talks with the ELN, Otty Patiño, admitted on Tuesday that the ceasefire was an “intention” that should be discussed in the dialogue table.

“After evaluating the events of the last 48 hours and the last 50 years, we recognize that these processes have a very high degree of complexity, that we must proceed with great caution, prudence and caution, but under no circumstances are we exempt from a reaction of the counterpart that must be attended to or responded to in some way”, Minister Alfonso Prada added this Wednesday.

The government indicated that it expects the other four groups named in the decrees to stop the clashes to maintain their position and continue to support the bilateral ceasefire.

With Reuters, EFE and local media