The Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN), the country’s largest remaining guerrilla group, have formally launched new peace talks. The first round of dialogue, aimed at reaching a peace agreement, started Monday in the Venezuelan capital Caracas. The relaunch of the negotiations comes more than three years after peace talks collapsed in 2019.
The new peace negotiations are observed by the guarantor countries Venezuela, Cuba and Norway as well as representatives from the Vatican and the United Nations. According to the Colombian presidency, both delegations, the government and the ELN, expressed their strong commitment to the peace process and to the search for a solution to the armed conflict that continues in several regions of the South American country.
The Colombian High Commissioner for Peace, Danilo Rueda, expressed his confidence in the good faith of all members of the two delegations. "At the center of this dialogue towards peace is life,'' he said. Member of the two delegations will work for the next three weeks in the premises of the Humboldt Hotel in Cerro Avila, on the outskirts of Caracas. If the talks are successful, additional rounds of negotiations will follow in Cuba and Norway.
Observers hope both parties will seize the opportunity to end a deadly conflict whose resolution is critical for expanding the scope of peace in Colombia. Six years after the peace accord between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) was signed, the humanitarian situation in Colombia is still marked by large scale internal displacement and insecurity due to armed violence. The country has endured half a century of intense armed conflict, perpetuated by widespread illegal drug production and trafficking and rooted in territorial control by armed groups.
Armed groups, including the ELN, dissidents of the FARC, paramilitary successor groups and drug-trafficking gangs continue to operate in the country. Civilians in various parts of Colombia suffer serious human rights abuses at the hands of those armed groups. In the shadow of the FARC and the Colombian government peace accord other irregular armed groups increased their actions, particularly in rural areas.
Further information
Full Text: DELEGATIONS OF NEGOTIATORS FROM THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT AND ELN GUERRILLAS BEGIN NEW SERIES OF PEACE DIALOGUES, press release by the Colombian presidency, published November 21, 2022 (in Spanish)
https://petro.presidencia.gov.co/prensa/Paginas/DELEGACIONES-DE-NEGOCIADORES-DEL-GOBIERNO-NACIONAL-Y-DE-LA-GUERRILLA-ELN-221122.aspx