Delegation of the Colombian government asks the ELN to reestablish dialogue table soon

The delegation of the Government of Colombia on Monday asked the guerrilla of the National Liberation Army (ELN) to immediately resume peace talks, after the rebel group again denounced that the process faces a “serious crisis” due to government failures.

The government of leftist President Gustavo Petro reestablished a peace negotiation with the ELN at the end of 2022 as part of its efforts to end a six-decade internal armed conflict that has left more than 450,000 dead and that includes negotiations with other guerrillas and an offer of submission to criminal gangs.

“To overcome the difficulties and critical situations faced by the Roundtable, we invite the ELN Delegation to constructive dialogue, to a bilateral examination to find solutions and resume the Roundtable’s dialogue cycles as soon as possible,” said a statement from the Roundtable. Government of Colombia.

The rebel group previously announced that the peace talks are currently “going through a serious crisis caused by non-compliance with agreements by the Government,” although it assured that the table can be resumed to the extent that the Petro administration rectifies.

Despite the support of Mexico, Norway, Venezuela, Cuba, Brazil and Chile as guarantor countries and the repeated declarations of a negotiated solution, the parties have not yet reached concrete agreements beyond giving civil society participation in the negotiation.

The ELN, considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, has more than 6,100 members, including 3,300 combatants, according to security sources.

Negotiations with previous ELN governments, accused of financing themselves from kidnapping, extortion, drug trafficking and illegal mining, did not advance due to their radical positions, a diffuse chain of command and dissent in their ranks, according to analysts.

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