Government would not have discussed with the ELN the stop of the kidnappings

He Colombian government He assured this Friday that he has not discussed in the dialogues with the National Liberation Army (ELN) the creation of an international fund to subsidize that guerrilla in exchange for it stopping kidnapping, a possibility that has caused a stir in the country.

“Faced with the versions that circulate of an alleged multi-donor fund that would provide a basic income to the members of the ELN in order to replace illegal sources
of financing, we allow ourselves to point out that this issue has not been dealt with in the Peace Dialogues Table with that guerrilla“said in a statement the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace.

(The difficulties of the Petro government one year after its electoral victory).

According to this agency, “on the subject there is no discussion or agreement between the parties that could be commented on by the national government“.

He Colombian President Gustavo Petrowho is visiting Germanysaid this Friday that there is nothing defined because “the multilateral fund is not a construction in the agreements, it is a possibility and depends on the agreementswith the ELN.

(Robledo talks about the Petro government: ‘things are going pretty bad’).

Despite this, he Colombian Attorney General Francisco Barbosawhich is in public conflict with the government, criticized this possibility because it considers that seeking international cooperation so that the ELN stops kidnapping and extorting money is financing crime.

“Colombians deserve not to be publicly ‘vaccinated’ (extorted) (…) if this becomes an initiative, which I don’t think has any basis, we would turn Colombia into a scenario where they would be publicly ‘vaccinating’ with a stimulus to criminality“Barbosa said when speaking at a banking convention.

(‘The Government is not sure where it is going’: Juan Manuel Santos).

Last week, the ELN chief negotiator, alias ‘Pablo Beltrán’admitted that despite the six-month ceasefire agreed with the Government in the negotiations in Cuba and that will come into force on August 3, that guerrilla will continue to do “withholdings“as a way to survive and finance themselves.

In Beltrán’s opinion, yes to the guerrillas “they take away a spoon, they have to give him another“. On the other hand, the chief government negotiator, Otty Patiñosaid in an interview with EFE that despite the fact that kidnapping is not explicitly prohibited in the bilateral ceasefire protocols with the ELN, this crime is considered a “war crime“.

(Petro reaffirms its position against the consumption of hydrocarbons).

EFE