The Government of Colombia reveals the ceasefire decree that includes the ELN

MADRID, 4 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Government of Colombia has revealed on Tuesday the ceasefire decrees signed with armed groups, demonstrating that the guerrilla of the National Liberation Army (ELN) is included, after the organization denied these conclusions regarding the negotiations with the political representatives of the Latin American country.

Colombian authorities have made public the five-page decree that legally upholds the bilateral cessation of violence announced by Colombian President Gustavo Petro on December 31.

This document, signed by Defense Minister Iván Velásquez, indicates that "according to the information provided by the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace, the existing communities in the territory where the ELN is present have made private calls and requests to the national government to order a ceasefire, requests that have been supported by the church and sectors of the international community".

Thus, the decree establishes a "national bilateral and temporary ceasefire between the national government and the National Liberation Army" from 00:00 on January 1, 2023 until June 30, and which could be extended. "prior recommendation".

In addition, the suspension of military operations and police operations against ELN members who participate in the peace process is ordered. A monitoring mechanism made up of the different parties and social organizations, as well as the Catholic Church and a UN team, is also established.

The ELN stated hours before that the delegation that is negotiating with the Colombian government "has not discussed" any proposal for a bilateral ceasefire and, therefore, "there is still no agreement on this matter."

"On various occasions we have indicated that the ELN only complies with what is discussed and agreed upon at the dialogue table where we participate. A unilateral government decree cannot be accepted as an agreement," the guerrilla explained in a statement signed on January 1 and released this Tuesday.

"We understand the government's decree as a proposal to be examined in the next cycle," the ELN has assessed, thus breaking with President Petro's December 31 announcement that his government had reached a bilateral ceasefire both with this guerrilla as well as with four other armed groups.

After the statement was made public, the Colombian president has called an extraordinary summit with the Ministers of the Interior, Alfonso Prada; and Defense, Iván Velázquez; and the High Commissioner for Peace, Danilo Rueda. The objective of the meeting is to analyze the new panorama after this announcement by the ELN and the next actions of the Government, among which it is not ruled out repealing the bilateral ceasefire decree and resuming military operations.

The restart of the stalled negotiations with the ELN was one of Petro's first announcements with an international impact, after they had been interrupted by the government of former President Iván Duque in response to a guerrilla attack in January 2019 on a Police academy that left about twenty dead.