The Colombian President Gustav Petro, announced just before midnight on December 31 a “bilateral ceasefire” with the country’s main armed groups, including: the National Liberation Army (ELN), FARC dissidents and three other paramilitary groups. The aforementioned agreement is valid from January 1st to June 30th, 2023.
This setting will be “extendable depending on the progress of the negotiations,” the President added shortly after the official announcement on his social networks.
Altogether there are five groups that have signed this agreement: the THENthe Central General Staff of the FARC dissidentsthe Second Marquetaliathe Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC) and the Sierra Nevada Paramilitariesreports Efe.
We have agreed with the ELN, the Segunda Marquetalia, the Central Joint Chiefs of Staff, the AGC and the Sierra Nevada Self-Defense Forces on a bilateral hiatus from January 1 to June 30, 2023, which may be extended depending on the progress of negotiations.
Total peace becomes reality.
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) January 1, 2023
The President made the announcement via his social media just before the end of 2022 and his office said that since his election, the government has received letters from civil society, the church and many community organizations asking for an end to the violence that exists in Colombia.
“We have agreed a bilateral termination with the ELN, the Segunda Marquetalia, the Central General Staff, the AGC (Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia) and the Sierra Nevada Self-Defense Forces from January 1 to June 30, 2023, renewable depending on the progress of negotiations. Total peace is becoming a reality,” Petro said on Twitter.
[Al menos 18 muertos en enfrentamientos entre grupos armados disidentes de las FARC en Colombia]
Since taking office on August 7, Petro and his government have defended a policy of “total peace,” which has already managed to restart negotiations with the ELN in Caracas.
“I wish at the end of the year that peace is possible. This is a courageous act. The bilateral ceasefire obliges the armed organizations and the state to respect it. There will be a national and international verification mechanism. May there be peace between us. Happy New Year,” added the President.
According to the Council Presidency, the bilateral termination is being verified nationally and internationally by the UN Verification Mission, the Organization of American States Peace Process Support Mission (MAPP/OEA), the Office of the Ombudsman and the Catholic Church.
For the moment, “a ceasefire with other organizations is not planned“The presidency added, but the government will review the outcome of ongoing trials and other unilateral terminations to make future decisions.
It didn’t take long for the announcement to garner positive reactions, including that from the head of the UN Verification Mission to Colombia, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, who insisted that “the United Nations supports any effort aimed at reducing violence in the areas reduce and protect the affected communities the conflict and build peace in Colombia”.
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