Colombia’s longest-living guerrilla group ELN reiterated that the rebels want to resume peace talks after Sunday’s election victory of President-elect Gustavo Petro.
In a press statement, the ELN reiterated that the guerrillas continued to be “fully willing” to resume the peace talks that were initially held with former President Juan Manuel Santos.
The ELN also said that they would continue their “political and military struggle” after President Ivan Duque leaves office on August 7.
ELN negotiation chief “Pablo Beltran” told television network Cable Noticias on Monday that the guerrillas were also willing to try another bilateral ceasefire.
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President-elect Gustavo Petro
Petro didn’t immediately respond to the ELN’s statements, but promised to resume the peace talks while he was on campaign.
The resumption of peace talks is an integral part of the president elect’s peace proposals that include the implementation of a peace deal with demobilized FARC guerrillas and an end to “the failed War on Drugs.”
The former Senator won the elections after fiercely opposing President Ivan Duque, who suspended the talks with the ELN after taking office in 2018.
Duque’s refusal to continue Santos’ peace policies allowed violence to surge to levels not seen in Colombia in decades.
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ELN stronger than ever?
(Image: Twitter)
While Beltran and other top guerrilla commanders were in Cuba waiting to resume the peace talks, the ELN’s forces intensified their guerrilla war.
According to multiple think tanks, the ELN has grown their armies and expanded their territories after Duque took office.
The guerrillas are estimated to affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Colombia’s historically neglected countryside.
The clashes caused by the expansion of the ELN and rival groups cost the lives of dozens of civilians in the first few months of this year alone.
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Possibilities for peace
ELN negotiator “Pablo Beltran”
The intentions to resume peace talks expressed by both the ELN and Petro does not imply that a peace deal or a reduction of guerrilla violence is anywhere in sight.
In the past, the ELN and the military ramped up attacks in apparent attempts to force concessions, which generally complicated the talks.
The guerrillas pulled out of the first bilateral ceasefire with the ELN in 2017 amid mutual accusations that the cessation of hostilities was used for military purposes.
