MADRID, January 4 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Colombian government on Tuesday unveiled the ceasefire decrees signed with armed groups showing the trapping of the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas, after the organization denied these conclusions regarding negotiations with the Latin American country’s political representatives.
Colombian authorities have released the five-page decree legally confirming the bilateral cessation of violence announced by Colombian President Gustavo Petro on December 31.
This document, signed by Defense Minister Iván Velásquez, indicates that “according to the information provided by the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace, the existing communities in the area where the ELN is present have made private calls and requests to the national government for a ceasefire order, demands supported by the Church and parts of the international community”.
Thus, the decree establishes a “national bilateral and temporary ceasefire between the national government and the National Liberation Army” from January 1, 2023, 00:00 to June 30, which could be extended, “previous recommendation”.
It also orders the cessation of military and police operations against ELN members involved in the peace process. In addition, a monitoring mechanism will be set up, made up of the various parties and social organizations as well as the Catholic Church and a UN team.
The ELN said hours earlier that the delegation negotiating with the Colombian government had “not discussed a proposal for a bilateral ceasefire” and therefore “there is no agreement on this matter yet”.
“On various occasions we have pointed out that the ELN only complies with what has been discussed and agreed at the dialogue table in which we participate. A unilateral government decree cannot be accepted as an agreement,” the guerrillas said in a statement signed on January 1st released Tuesday.
“We understand the government decree as a proposal to be examined in the next cycle,” the ELN judged, breaking with President Petro’s announcement of the 31 Groups.
After the release of the statement, the Colombian President held an extraordinary summit with Interior Ministers Alfonso Prada; and Defense, Iván Velázquez; and the High Commissioner for Peace, Danilo Rueda. The aim of the meeting is to analyze the new panorama following this announcement by the ELN and the government’s next actions, including the lifting of the bilateral ceasefire decree and the resumption of military operations.
The resumption of stalled negotiations with the ELN was one of Petro’s first announcements with international impact, after they were interrupted by the government of former President Iván Duque in response to a January 2019 guerrilla attack on a police academy in which about twenty remained dead.