Petro proposes a "bilateral ceasefire" to hold peace talks with the ELN

MADRID, 6 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The elected president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has proposed this Tuesday a "bilateral ceasefire" with the National Liberation Army (ELN) to start a peace process, after the guerrillas reaffirmed their willingness to start talks with the ELN. Executive of the new president.

"We are going to resume dialogue, without letting the changes of the ELN and society go by in the pause that took place, we will start from there, to all the armed groups: the time for peace has arrived," the president assured in an interview with the station W Radio.

Petro has emphasized recognizing the protocols that allow a negotiation to be established and, again, allow a table to be set up with the help of third countries, as was done during the peace talks carried out during the Government of Juan Manuel Santos in 2016.

"Through various instruments, what I request is a ceasefire that will be bilateral and the beginning of judicial negotiations in most cases, and political negotiations in the minority of cases to end the war in Colombia. ", has announced the Colombian president-elect.

Faced with criticism of the negotiations, Petro has asserted that "obviously" some time has passed, and has stressed that one cannot act "as if nothing had happened."

In this sense, the president assured in the interview with the radio station that the ELN "has undergone transformations", as well as the dynamics of Colombian society.

On the other hand, Petro has defended the creation of a Ministry of Peace and Coexistence, and has clarified that the proposal would not suppose an additional cost to the public coffers, but would be financed by redistributing the cost.

"An institutional framework for peace has been created. More encouragement must be given, it must be collected so that they are articulated in a single Ministry," added the elected president.