Colombian negotiation teams advance peace talks in Caracas. Photo: X/@DelegacionGob.
A delegation of the Colombian government and Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) held a round of talks in the city of Caracas, Venezuela. The talks will continue until April 22.
Through social media, the peace delegation of the Colombian government reported that talks with the ELN began on Saturday, April 13, and that they continued on Sunday.
“Yesterday, the two peace delegations began talks in Caracas.” stated the delegation. “Today, the government delegation continues its work.”
Both delegations met on Friday with representatives of countries participating in the peace negotiations.
El día de ayer las dos delegaciones de paz iniciaron las conversaciones en Caracas. Hoy, la Delegación de Gobierno continúa sus trabajos. pic.twitter.com/gze4CBURaV
— Delegación de Paz del Gobierno de Colombia (@DelegacionGob) April 14, 2024
The Colombian government delegation is led by Vera Grabe, who traveled to Caracas on Wednesday. The ELN team is represented by Israel Ramírez Pineda, alias “Pablo Beltrán,” who arrived on Thursday.
According to information offered by the Colombian government delegation, during these extraordinary meetings, they will address the ceasefire and territorial transformations, as well as substantive decisions on the future of the process.
Furthermore, these meetings requested by the ELN delegation seek to provide solutions to the crisis that broke out last February, when talks between both sectors were frozen.
For his part, President Gustavo Petro recently said that to achieve peace with the ELN, it is necessary to include the regional groups that are part of the guerrilla organization.
“Without detriment to the regional dialogue to build peace in Nariño that has already begun, my government continues with the agreed national roundtable as the setting for peace dialogues with the ELN,” Petro stated. “It is important that this roundtable has members from the different regional fronts of the ELN to move from dialogue to definitive negotiation.”
What caused the crisis?
On February 20, the ELN announced that they were freezing the talks due to alleged non-compliance on behalf of the Colombian government.
At that time, the guerrilla organization issued a statement in which it said that the Colombian government, through the Armed Forces and the Police, was perpetrating actions that violated what was agreed upon at the roundtable.
The ELN delegation criticized that they set up a regional dialogue in Nariño, outside of the national process and ignoring the ELN delegation and the meetings in which the international community participates.
The ELN and the Colombian government have held six cycles of peace negotiations. These have been held in Venezuela, Mexico, and Cuba. In their last meeting, both extended the bilateral ceasefire that began on August 3 for another 180 days.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL
