ELN and Colombian government negotiate in Cuba their “models” of ceasefire

The delegations of the Colombian government and the guerrilla National Liberation Army (ELN), which are in talks in Cuba to reach a peace agreement, presented what the rebels called models of bilateral ceasefireconsidered an important point that they seek to arrive at in this section of the negotiations.

“The parties have presented their reports on the participation of Colombian society in the peace process and on the model of the bilateral and national ceasefire with which it is intended to improve the situation of the population,” the ELN said in a statement released on Friday about the talks that have been taking place since May 2 in the Cuban capital. The note that did not offer details on the specific points or proposals of each of the delegations.

This is the third dialogue cycle –before they were in Venezuela and Mexico since the end of last year–, and the objective outlined in the round is to work on the mechanisms of civil participation, humanitarian actions and the eventual cessation of armed hostilities.

The dialogue table that takes place behind closed doors was led by Commander Pablo Beltrán, the alias of Israel Ramírez Pineda, on behalf of the rebels, and José Otty Patiño, the envoy of Colombian President Gustavo Petro.

“We want the country to know that there is progress in this Roundtable but that speed cannot be the enemy of rigor. This is a way to avoid making mistakes from failed processes,” the statement said, citing Beltrán.

The ELN and the Colombian authorities started talks in 2017 in Quito, Ecuador, during the last months of the mandate of former president Juan Manuel Santos, but they moved to the island in 2018 and in 2019 they ended up being suspended after the then president Iván Duque –successor de Santos and that he never agreed with the talks—arranged it after the rebel attack on a police school.

The day before, on its official Twitter account, the guerrilla delegation indicated that the “essential” ceasefire must also include “parastatal forces and criminal groups” that “act against the communities and against the ELN.”

For its part, from Colombia, the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace lamented on its Twitter account the death of Police Major Edison González from the town of El Tarra on the border area with Venezuela and “claimed by the ELN.”

“This painful fact goes against the historical moment that the country is experiencing. No death in this war is justifiable,” he noted.

At the same time, the authorities in Bogotá informed on Friday that South Africa was invited to join as part of the guarantor countries of the peace process, with which that nation would join Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela and Norway.

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