The National Liberation Army (ELN), the last armed guerrillas in Colombia, has once again sat down at the negotiating table to reach a peace agreement, for the first time with a left-wing government, that of Gustavo Petro.
The delegations announced on December 17 that at the end of the fifth round of negotiations in Mexico City they had agreed to “suspend retentions for economic purposes,” what the ELN calls the extortionate kidnapping of civilians, thereby declassifying the process. At the conclusion of the third round of negotiations in Cuba on June 9th, they had already agreed on a six-month ceasefire from August 3rd, 2023 as well as an agreement on the participation of civil society in the process. They are the most significant advances to date.
The dialogue stalled at the end of October when, in the middle of the ceasefire, the father of the footballer Luis Díaz was kidnapped, an action that shocked the country and put the focus on a crime extremely rejected by society, to which the guerrillas have always hesitated to resign. The ELN released him on November 9th after twelve days of captivity. The government delegation strongly demanded the freedom of the remaining abducted people, and this was one of the mandatory topics in the fifth cycle in Mexico City.
The negotiating teams of both parties agreed on Monday, November 21, 2022, at Cerro Ávila, on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela, to resume the “political dialogue” that they began in March 2016 during the time of Juan Manuel Santos ( 2010-2018) and was suspended in January 2019 during the term of Iván Duque (2018-2022) after a car bomb attack on a cadet school in Bogotá killed 23 people.
The first dialogue cycle took place in Caracas, the second in Mexico City, the third in Havana, the fourth in Venezuela and the fifth in Mexico. Cuba will again host the sixth cycle starting January 22, 2024.
Is the kidnapping a violation of the ceasefire?
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Kidnappings have been a recurring obstacle in successive negotiations with the ELN, which has not abandoned the practice even after talks with the government. When delegations announced the bilateral ceasefire on June 9, 2023, the guerrilla's chief negotiator, Pablo Beltrán, said that extortions and kidnappings – which he described as “taxes” and “withholdings” – were “financial operations” that were not yet part of it , what was agreed. Beyond the euphemisms that the guerrillas usually resort to and formal statements by the verification mechanism, the abduction of civilians constitutes a violation of the signed document prohibiting “taking hostages” under international humanitarian law. With the details still to be clarified, the crisis was resolved with the table's announcement in December “to suspend withholdings for economic purposes, according to the ELN, as part of the ceasefire extension planned for the end of January.” ” [de 2024]”
When did the peace process begin?
The government of Juan Manuel Santos agreed on a negotiating agenda with the ELN in March 2016, which was also announced in Caracas. Because of a tug-of-war over the kidnapping issue, the public phase of the talks did not begin until early 2017 at an old tobacco farm near Quito, Ecuador. At that time it was assumed that, in addition to Norway as a guarantor country, the working sessions could also take place in Brazil, Venezuela, Chile or Cuba. The table was moved to Havana, Cuba, at the end of the Santos period – where the negotiations that led to the peace agreement with the FARC had already taken place.
Iván Duque – a critic of the agreement with the FARC – inherited negotiations with the ELN but ended them when he was in power for a semester after the attack on a cadet school in Bogotá in January 2019 that left 23 dead. The separation had diplomatic implications for Havana. Duque did not recognize the protocols signed by the parties – including the guarantor countries – which left the ELN delegation in Cuba in limbo. The island, under the protection of protocols, refused to extradite them. When the Donald Trump administration in the United States described Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism” in January 2021, it based its decision on Duque's claims.
The Petro government proposed resuming dialogues from the moment of their suspension as soon as it came to power, on August 7, 2022. “We proceed from what already exists, from what has already been agreed, we “invent nothing,” everything,” said the then High Commissioner for Peace, Danilo Rueda. “In May 2025, the decades-long war between the ELN and the state will finally end,” predicted President Gustavo Petro.
What is the negotiation agenda?
At the end of the second cycle of negotiations, the parties announced New agenda the peace dialogue, which includes the following points:
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What are the terms of the ceasefire?
At the end of the third cycle of negotiations, the parties announced an unprecedented six-month ceasefire – “bilateral, national and temporary” – pending a final ceasefire aimed at providing relief to communities most affected by the armed conflict. The agreed suspension is valid for 180 days from August 3, 2023. The monitoring and review mechanisms include the participation of the United Nations and the Catholic Church. The delegations have agreed to create the conditions for an extension of this ceasefire.
What are the guarantee countries?
Negotiations 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 parties are also considering that the United States could have a special envoy at the table at some point, and Vice President Francia Márquez invited South Africa to join the guarantor countries in a visit to the African country. These two ideas have not yet come to fruition.
Where are the negotiations with the ELN taking place?
The resumption of the dialogues was officially announced on Monday, November 21, 2022, in a hotel at the top of Avila Hill, near Caracas. But Venezuela, one of the guarantor countries, was only the starting point and not a permanent headquarters. The second cycle of talks took place from May 2 to June 9, 2023 in Mexico, another guarantor state, and the third in Cuba. The fourth cycle was from August 14 to September 4 to Venezuela and the fifth to Mexico, from November 30 to December 17. The fifth will take place in Cuba starting January 22, 2024. In the process with the Santos government, a rotating headquarters between several Latin American countries was already being considered.
Who are the negotiators?
The new head of the government delegation since December 2023 is Vera Grabe, a 72-year-old anthropologist, former guerrilla fighter and former senator of the M-19 Democratic Alliance, the same group in which President Petro was active in his youth. Grabe replaces another M-19 historical figure, Otty Patiño, after being appointed High Commissioner for Peace. Grabe is accompanied by other figures close to the president, such as senators Iván Cepeda and María José Pizarro, but also by representatives of the right wing, such as the cattle leader José Félix Lafaurie, or from the military, such as the retired colonel Álvaro Matallana and admiral Orlando Romero. At the head of the ELN delegation are old friends such as Pablo Beltrán, Aureliano Carbonell and Nicolás Rodríguez Bautista (Gabino).
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When was the ELN born?
The National Liberation Army was founded in 1964, inspired by the Cuban Revolution and shaped by a profound 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 shaped the Guevarist group. Among them was Manuel Pérez (Alfamén, Zaragoza, 1943), who took command of the ELN until his natural death in 1998.
What is the ELN currently doing?
The ELN has around 2,350 fighters and is present in regions such as the departments of Norte de Santander and Arauca on the border with Venezuela in northeastern Colombia, and in Nariño and Chocó in the west near the Pacific Rim. In recent years it has been strengthened militarily, it has expanded and its presence on the Venezuelan side of the border has been documented. Organizations such as Human Rights Watch have denounced that Venezuelan security forces have been accomplices and have even carried out “joint operations” with the ELN. That is why Venezuela's role proves to be a key factor in any negotiation.
What was the first peace agreement in Colombia?
Various Colombian governments have negotiated with various armed actors to reach peace agreements. The first major peace agreement between a guerrilla and the Colombian state was signed on March 9, 1990 in Caloto, Cauca, with the M-19. The Democratic Alliance M-19, the political movement that emerged from the guerrillas who had just laid down their arms, played a leading role in the Constituent Assembly, which drafted the political charter in 1991.
The other major guerrilla peace agreement was signed with the FARC on November 24, 2016. Disarming the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, now transformed into a political party with representation in Congress, the ELN was the last armed guerrilla in the country.
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