Colombian government and ELN guerrillas sign sixmonth ceasefire

Colombian government and ELN guerrillas sign sixmonth ceasefire

1 of 5 Colombian President Gustavo Petro (left) next to Cuban President Miguel DiazCanel (centre) and ELN leader Antônio Garcia (right) Photo: YAMIL LAGE / AFP Colombian President Gustavo Petro (left) next to Cuban presidents. Miguel DiazCanel (centre) and the President of the ELN, Antônio Garcia (right) Photo: YAMIL LAGE / AFP

The Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) signed a national and temporary ceasefire agreement lasting six months this Friday (9) in Havana.

“A new world is emerging here, a phase of armed insurgency in Latin America with its myths and realities is ending here,” said Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the signing of the agreement in the presence of the supreme leader of the ELN, Antonio García, against the up to this point An arrest warrant had been issued for a week.

2 of 5 File photo shows guerrillas (ELN) at a training camp on the banks of the San Juan River in Colombia, training on the banks of the San Juan River in Colombia Photo: Luis Robayo/AFP/Archive

The ELN, formed in 1964, had 5,850 fighters as of 2022, according to Colombian authorities, and is the oldest active guerrilla force in Latin America.

The text, signed by the negotiators of the Colombian government, Otty Patiño, and the ELN, Pablo Beltrán, provides for “immediate compliance with the Cuban agreements” that provide for “the national and temporary bilateral ceasefire,” said the Cuban foreign minister Minister. , Bruno Rodríguez, reading the points of the document.

The signing, which was also attended by Cuban President Miguel DíazCanel, took place at the end of the third cycle of the Round Table of Peace Dialogues, which began in Havana on May 2nd.

Antonio García, who made a surprise trip to Havana, was cautious: “We have not signed any substantive agreements, only ‘procedural agreements’,” he said.

“other” process

3 of 5 Colombian President Gustavo Petro (left) next to Cuban President Miguel DiazCanel (centre) and ELN leader Antônio Garcia (right) Photo: YAMIL LAGE / AFP Colombian President Gustavo Petro (left) next to the President of Cuba. Miguel DiazCanel (centre) and the President of the ELN, Antônio Garcia (right) Photo: YAMIL LAGE / AFP

“This peace process must be different, we must see changes,” said the leader of the guevarista guerrillas, inspired by the Cuban revolution.

Patiño, a negotiator for the Colombian government, agreed that “the challenges are numerous but worth it.” […] Face them all.

The Cuban Chancellor announced that the fourth round of talks will be held in Caracas, Venezuela, from August 14 to September 4.

The only bilateral ceasefire agreed between the two parties lasted 101 days between 2017 and 2018.

The document, signed this Friday, provides for the creation of a “channel of communication between the parties through the Special Representative of the United Nations SecretaryGeneral in Colombia”.

The agreement stipulates that from August 3, “the 180 days of validity” of this ceasefire will begin, as well as the implementation of the protocols and the monitoring and verification mechanism, which will be agreed in the coming days.

4 of 5 UN SecretaryGeneral António Guterres during a speech on February 8, 2020 Photo: MICHAEL TEWELDE / AFP UN SecretaryGeneral António Guterres during a speech on February 8, 2020 Photo: MICHAEL TEWELDE / AFP

UN SecretaryGeneral António Guterres welcomed the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army.

“These are important steps that bring hope to the Colombian people, especially to the communities hardest hit by the conflict,” the organization said in a statement.

obstacle

5 of 5 National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels, Colombia’s last active guerrilla group, in the country’s northwestern forests Photo: Federico Rios/Portal National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels, Colombia’s last active guerrilla group, in the country’s northwestern forests Photo: Federico Rios/Portal

The latest attempt to negotiate peace between the parties began in 2018 but was thwarted a year later by an ELN car bomb attack on a police academy that killed 22 people.

In late 2022, Petro, Colombia’s first leftwing president and himself a former guerrilla, kickstarted this process, which began in Venezuela in November and continued in Mexico in March of last year.

Negotiations were walking a tightrope after a longarms and explosives attack in late March that killed 10 soldiers near the border with Venezuela.

Wracked by more than half a century of armed conflict, Colombia has attempted several peace negotiations with armed groups, many of which have failed.

A historic pact negotiated in Havana in 2016 resulted in the disarmament of the powerful guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which became a political party.

The ELN delegation returned to Havana in May and left the country in September 2022 after Petro came to power. His predecessor Iván Duque (20182022) reactivated the arrest warrants against the armed group’s negotiators in 2019 after the attack on the police academy and demanded their extradition.

All of this helped former US President Donald Trump add Cuba to the list of countries that support terrorism.

“This Colombian President is telling the President [americano, Joe] Biden and gentlemen that this is the case [voltar a incluir Cuba na lista] “It was an injustice that must be righted,” Petro said during the ceremony.