BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s government will not unilaterally break peace talks with rebels from the National Liberation Army (ELN), its peace delegation said on Thursday.
Vera Grabe, head of the government’s peace delegation, and Senator Ivan Cepeda, said it was up to the rebel group to make decisions.
“The purpose of this government is to complete the peace process with the National Liberation Army. We’re not going to be the ones to take the step of breaking off the negotiations,” Cepeda said at a press conference in Bogota.
The government of leftist President Gustavo Petro restarted peace talks with the ELN at the end of 2022 as part of its total peace policy. The government hopes peace talks with the ELN will end the group’s role in the country’s six decades of conflict, which have left more than 450,000 people dead.
Although six rounds of talks have taken place, crisis hit the negotiations after the government advanced meetings with an ELN faction in Colombia’s Narino province.
The faction sought to negotiate its handover of weapons and reintegration into society, much to the chagrin of the ELN’s central leadership, which said the move undermined the peace talks.
Later, in August, a ceasefire between the two sides expired and Colombia’s government said the military and police would restart operations against the rebel group.
The ELN responded by saying it will not attack the military but warned it would defend itself as needed.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Rod Nickel)
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