Colombian President Gustavo Petro has nominated Vatican City as the headquarters for a next round of peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas. “I would be very interested (…) for many reasons that have to do with the history of the ELN itself,” the president told reporters in San Pedro Square itself, after this Friday in a private audience with Pope Francis in the Holy Church had seen.
“It is possible that we will make a round here, we will talk to the ELN,” explained Petro in his statements to the press at the end of the meeting, the first with Francisco since coming to power. The President thanked the Catholic Church for being a great support in all peace efforts in Colombia. “The pope agrees that we take deeper steps in the peace agreements,” he said. The South American country was on the Pope's agenda. Two weeks ago, Francisco called for the immediate release of all those abducted, a month ago he met with Vice President Francia Márquez to talk about peace in Colombia, and a year ago he met with First Lady Verónica Alcocer.
Colombia's last armed guerrilla fighter has once again sought a peace agreement, but for the first time with a left-wing government, the government of Petro. This table is the most advanced within the framework of total peace, the flagship policy of the Colombian president. Delegations have already held five cycles of dialogues in Venezuela, Mexico and Cuba, and Havana will again host the sixth cycle starting January 22. In an unprecedented move, the guerrillas have pledged to stop kidnapping civilians, one of their most condemned crimes by society. A six-month ceasefire that expires this month also remains in effect and awaits an extension. They are the most significant advances to date.
The negotiations, supported from the start by both the UN and the Catholic Church, began with Cuba, Norway and Venezuela as guarantor countries. As part of its initial agreements, the Dialogue Table invited Brazil, Chile and Mexico to join with the status of guarantor countries, while Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Spain accompanied the countries.
The ELN was founded in 1964, inspired by the Cuban Revolution and shaped by a deep religious influence. Several of its founders – union members, students and farmers – were educated on the Caribbean island. They were soon joined by the Colombian priest Camilo Torres (1929-1966), who died in one of the first battles. Priest Torres, together with three other Spanish priests who were representatives of liberation theology and later followed in his footsteps, sealed the confluence of Christianity and Marxism that has historically shaped the Guevarist group.
Colombia is trying to end a defused armed conflict involving guerrillas, paramilitary groups and state forces. Pope Francis visited the country back in September 2017 with the aim of supporting the process of reconciliation between society and the political class, which was very divided after the signing of the peace agreement between the government of Juan Manuel Santos and the now disarmed FARC guerrillas converted into a political party with seats in Congress.
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After the pause that Iván Duque's four-year term brought to peace efforts, Petro has resumed dialogue with various armed groups within the framework of total peace. The president – who had already visited Francisco in the middle of the election campaign as a candidate in the Holy See – intends to negotiate with the ELN and at least part of the FARC dissidents who left this peace process, and, moreover, to promote an initiative policy submission to other criminal groups, such as the Clan del Golfo, the largest drug trafficking gang.
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