Colombia: Colombia and National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels resume peace talks in Mexico after ceasefire confusion
Colombia’s government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group resumed peace talks in Mexico City on Monday after a temporary halt caused by a misunderstanding over a mooted ceasefire.
Mexico is one of the guarantor nations for the talks, along with Norway, Venezuela, Cuba, Brazil and Chile. The first round of discussions to end the guerrillas’ part in nearly six decades of war took place in Caracas last November.
On New Year’s Eve, President Gustavo Petro had announced that a ceasefire had been agreed with the ELN and other rebel groups.
But a few days later the ELN said it was merely a proposal that had not been agreed to. The government blamed the confusion on a misunderstanding of the ELN’s position.
The ELN is Colombia’s oldest remaining rebel group, founded by radical Catholic priests in 1964, and the talks are the cornerstone of efforts by leftist Petro - himself a former member of another insurgent group - to bring “total peace” to Colombia.