First modification:
The ceasefire is the main objective of this new attempt at peace between the representatives of the Government of Colombia and the National Liberation Army, ELN, who once again sat down at the dialogue table in Havana, Cuba.
Peace is discussed. The third cycle of peace talks between the parties was inaugurated in Havana, Cuba, after the attempts at dialogue in Venezuela in November and Mexico in March, which generated disagreements due to violence. The Colombian government and the National Liberation Army, ELN, say they are seeking the same goal, but have not yet found the formula.
Despite the fact that both parties assure that they aspire to agree to a ceasefire in Havana, differences persist in the language in this regard. The head of the ELN delegation has said that the ceasefire must be 100% fulfilled in order to reach a true agreement.
The talks have their roots in 2016, under the administration of Juan Manuel Santos, but were suspended with the Government of Iván Duque in 2019 after an attack on a military school in Bogotá that left more than 20 dead.
However, after the impasses of the past and the arrival of Gustavo Petro to power in Colombia, the dialogues were resumed where they had left off, a campaign promise of the first left-wing president of the South American country.
The agenda includes issues such as democracy for peace, what will happen to the victims of the conflict, transformations for peace, the end of the conflict and the execution plan of what is agreed between the government and the guerrillas.
Representing the Colombian government is Otty Patiño, a former M-19 guerrilla, and senators Iván Cepeda and María José Pizarro, while on behalf of the ELN is the ELN’s chief negotiator, Israel Ramírez, alias “Pablo Beltrán”, as well as Aureliano Carbonell and Nicolás Rodríguez Bautista.
According to alias Pablo Beltrán, the ELN has “full disposition and willingness to reach a ceasefire,” and explained that its plan to end the conflict must have “realism” so that “it works one hundred percent, zero errors,” which not be “elementary” but also not “heavy and complex” or “difficult to accomplish”.
“A good dismissal will demonstrate the table’s ability to make agreements realistically. That is what will govern this idea of the dismissal that we are going to work on here,” he argued.
For its part, the Colombian delegation called for a “temporary ceasefire with a view to prolonging and deepening it,” an “irreversible” agreement that would allow “peaceful elections” in October.
For Patiño, “without a ceasefire it is impossible to advance transformations and humanitarian actions” and that “without a ceasefire and without a ceasefire, transformation and democratic participation is not possible.” Senator María José Pizarro Rodríguez advocated “substantial and definitive progress in the agreed agenda”, seeking an “irreversible” peace process.
“We are going to reach a ceasefire”: Colombian delegation
Patiño reiterated that all of Colombia is “confident that we are going to reach a ceasefire, that we are going to advance on the issue of participation and that we are going to consolidate humanitarian actions and dynamics.”
Committed to transformations for peace.
Speech by Commander Pablo Beltrán of the ELN Dialogue Delegation, at the inauguration of the third cycle of peace talks
(Havana, May 2, 2023)?Complete: https://t.co/3Z5CYvzqYr pic.twitter.com/cbsYNPpFnS
– ELN Delegation (@DelegacionEln) May 2, 2023
The Colombian government delegate celebrated the fact that Rodríguez Bautista, alias Gabino, has joined the negotiation. “We believe that Gabino, despite the fact that he is no longer the ELN commander, is a man who is a symbol of ELN unity and therefore a guarantee that we can advance much faster with him than without him,” he said.
In March of this year, the ceasefire was broken after an attack against a unit of the Colombian Army in the Catatumbo region, which left nine soldiers dead and eight wounded, according to the Government.
Beltrán assured that the March attack was provoked by an “offensive campaign” by the Colombian military. “There were a series of attacks. What was our response? Defend ourselves. That was the guideline,” he said.
Inspired by the Cuban revolution, the ELN was founded in 1964 by Catholic priests who were exponents of Liberation Theology, and according to estimates it has 5,850 members, including 2,900 combatants, and they accuse it of financing its insurgent operations with activities such as drug trafficking. , illegal mining and kidnapping.
With EFE and Reuters
