Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on Monday an upcoming consultation on the continuation or suspension of negotiations with the ELN, after the death of nine soldiers the same morning in an attack attributed to this guerrilla.
"We have been informed of the death of nine of our soldiers" in El Carmen, in the department of Norte de Santander (northeast), the army announced in a press release, attributing this attack to the National Liberation Army (ELN). They are the last remaining guerrillas in Colombia, with which the government began peace talks in November, after a four-year hiatus, in an attempt to end nearly six decades of armed conflict.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro expressed his "total rejection of the attack by the army platoon in Catatumbo". “Seven soldiers doing their military service and two non-commissioned officers, soldiers of the nation and the government, killed by those who today are absolutely distant from peace and the people,” Mr. Petro wrote on Twitter.
He added that he had "requested a consultation with the government delegation at the table (of negotiations with) the ELN". "A peace process must be serious and responsible with Colombian society," he stressed.
The Head of State has set this meeting for next Monday, in the presence of representatives of the guarantor countries and the countries accompanying these negotiations.
"During this meeting the decisions to be taken will be assessed," said the press service of the presidency. This call "for consultations does not imply a freezing of the talks, nor a decision by the government to leave the negotiating table", according to the same source.
A first round of negotiations ended in December in Caracas with the announcement of the release of hostages and humanitarian actions. At the end of a second round in Mexico on March 10, both sides pledged to begin talks towards a ceasefire. A third cycle, this time in Cuba, has been announced, without its date being known.
The presidential adviser for peace, Danilo Rueda, conductor of the peace negotiations launched with the armed groups, did not rule out the possibility of suspending the negotiations, speaking of an "internal decision, taken by all, decisions which will be taken in the interest of the country".
Questioned by the press, Mr. Rueda judged that the ELN was thus trying "to escape the construction of peace in Colombia".
The attack took place at dawn, in the municipality of El Carmen, during a classic security operation and not an offensive action, detailed the army, stressing that the attackers were members of the "Camilo Torres Front".
The unit guarded the Cano Limon-Coveas oil pipeline, the most important in the country, and a recurring target of the ELN, when it was targeted by IEDs and automatic weapons fire.
The head of the army, General Luis Ospina, went there. Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez "condemned this attack against the will for peace expressed by the government", speaking of a "really very serious event".
The commander of the armed forces, General Helder Giraldo, assured that his men would continue "military operations in the region against those responsible" for the attack.
The head of the government delegation to the negotiations, Otty Patino, considered that "this criminal and stupid act" cast "doubt on the unity of the guerrilla command".
During the negotiations, the Colombian government granted the ELN the status of "rebellious armed political organization", a gesture welcomed by this guerrilla as essential to the continuation of the peace process.
Since the beginning of the year, however, violence and tensions have cooled relations between the two parties. Nine suspected ELN members were killed in late January in a Colombian army offensive.
Colombia wishes, with the ELN, to achieve peace as in the negotiations that led in 2016 to the demobilization of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which for years were the main guerrillas in Colombia.
03/29/2023 20:53:06 - Bogotá (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
