The talks will continue in Mexico and are part of President Gustavo Petro’s “total peace” agenda
The Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN), the last guerrilla with open fronts in that country, closed this Monday in Caracas the first stage of a negotiation that will continue shortly in Mexico and should lead to a peace agreement. The discussion lasted 21 days, under the Norwegian sponsorship and the backing of the UN, Venezuela and Cuba. During its course it was agreed to carry out humanitarian actions in various regions, including Valle del Cauca, 450 kilometers from Bogotá, plagued by violence from far-right armed groups and criminals, in addition to the ELN. Rafael Pineda, alias Pablo Beltrán, the head of the insurgency’s delegation, said that this model of humanitarian intervention, of which no further details were given, will later seek to be applied in other regions afflicted by the same scourges. The parties also recognized the “serious” problems that exist in prisons with members of the guerrilla and agreed to seek “concrete” solutions.
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The negotiations are part of an ambitious roadmap for the left-wing president, Gustavo Petro, who, upon taking office, presented his “total peace” project in Colombia, which should also involve the paramilitaries and drug gangs within an unspecified period. The president was represented in Caracas by Otty Patiño, María José Pizarro, Iván Cepeda, the peasant leader Alberto Castilla, the businessman José Félix Lafaurie, Monsignor Héctor Fabio Henao and the Peace Commissioner Danilo Rueda.
“This peace process was interrupted for four years. We examined the 2016 agenda and did a job of expanding and enriching it. For example, there was a gap: there was no talk of the common home, that is, of the environment, nor of sectors traditionally excluded as women and ethnic peoples”, added Pineda.