It is in Venezuela that the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) have resumed peace negotiations, which were frozen due in particular to clashes between the guerrillas and other armed groups.
“The two peace delegations began discussing in Caracas yesterday [Saturday],” the delegation from the administration of Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Sunday, April 14, on the social network X. “The work continues.” , added the delegation.
The two parties "discussed proposals for participation that fuel a common vision of peace, around the political regime, the environmental situation and the economic model", posted the representation of the left guerrilla.
The ELN confirmed, on April 6, the formal suspension of the round of negotiations it had been carrying out with the government since November 2022 in Venezuela, Cuba and Mexico, while talks were to begin last Monday. She had requested that this week’s meeting be considered “an extraordinary meeting.” The guerrillas accused the government of having a “double peace policy”, believing that dialogue is in a “critical state”.
Venezuela supports negotiations
The Colombian government's peace delegation highlighted "the worrying humanitarian tragedy in Arauca", a Colombian department on the border with Venezuela, where clashes are taking place. She said she hoped “to find a solution to put an end to the violence between the actors, which primarily affects unarmed civilians.”
On Tuesday, after a meeting with President Gustavo Petro in Caracas, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro reiterated his country's "will" to support the negotiations. In a joint statement, the two leaders reaffirmed “the mutual commitment to supporting peace.”
In recent months, the process has been disrupted by "armed strikes" - rebels order residents to lock themselves in their homes -, the kidnapping of the father of Liverpool footballer Luis Diaz, as well as clashes between different groups.
According to Colombian military intelligence, the ELN is made up of some 5,800 fighters with a vast network of collaborators. Despite central command, its fronts are militarily autonomous, which experts say makes negotiations difficult.
Mr Petro, Colombia's first left-wing president and himself a former guerrilla, is banking on a negotiated comprehensive solution after six decades of violence. In 2016, a historic peace agreement resulted in the disarmament of most of the FARC, another Colombian rebellion movement.
