Colombia to restart peace talks with the National Liberation Army rebel group

Americas, News October 5, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

The Colombian government and the left-wing rebels from the National Liberation Army (ENL) have agreed to reestablish communication channels in order to resume peace talks. Both sides have agreed to restart the peace talks from next month.

The announcement for the resumption of peace talks came after a meeting between the ENL guerrilla commanders Antonio Garcia and Pablo Beltran as well as the country’s high commissioner for peace, Danilo Rueda.

The meeting took place in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, on October 4, 2022, where both parties signed a statement that suggests the peace talks would resume by the first week of November.

“For Colombia’s government and the ELN, society’s participation in this process is essential in the changes that Colombia needs to build peace,” said the post-meeting statement indicating a positive outcome regarding the resumption of peace talks.

Rueda had been trying to broker a deal between President Gustavo Petro’s government and the ELN leadership. Just days after Gustavo Petro took the presidential office in Bogota, Rueda traveled to Cuba where he met with ELN representatives to resume the peace talks between the rebel group and the newly appointed leftist leadership of Colombia.

*^{Colombia’s National Liberation Army commanders Pablo Beltran and Antonio Garcia attend a news conference, in Caracas, Venezuela October 4, 2022. (Image Credit: Reuters/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria)}*

ELN was founded in 1964 by Fabio Vasquez Castano and other Colombian rebels who were trained in Cuba and remained close to the Cuban revolutionary leader and politician Fidel Castro. The rebel group has more than 24,000 active combatants and it is accused of financing itself through drug trafficking, illegal mining, and kidnapping.

ELN is listed as a terrorist organization by Colombia, the U.S., Canada, Valenzuela, and European Union.

Previously, former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos engaged in negotiations with ELN following the 2016 peace deal. However, the negotiation talks came to halt after ELN performed a car bombing on January 17, 2022, at the General Santander National Police Academy in Bogota that killed 22 police cadets and injured more than 68 people.

Following the bombing attack, President Ivan Duque Marquez announced on January 18 that peace dialogue between the Government of Colombia and the ELN was officially suspended. Duque also demanded that Cuba extradite the ten ELN leaders that found refuge on the island nation during peace talks and reactivated the Interpol Red Notices for their arrest. He also criticized Venezuela for providing refuge to the ELN members on the Colombia-Venezuela border.

^{The National Liberation Army is the last remaining guerrilla insurgency in Colombia after the government signed a landmark peace deal with the largest rebel group FARC in 2017. (Image Credit: AFP/Luis Robayo)}

ELN is Colombia’s largest remaining guerrilla group and has recently increased its activities in different territories. However, experts believe that rebel group would reduce their anti-government activities after the announcement of the resumption of peace talks.