In order to resume peace talks and face the current crisis at the negotiating table, the delegations of the National Government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) will meet in Caracas from November 1 to 7.
This meeting has as its main objective the reactivation of the ceasefire with a monitoring and verification mechanism, as confirmed by Vera Grabe, head of the Government Delegation in the peace talks with the ELN, in an interview with the newspaper VIDA.
Grabe explained that the Government will put crucial issues on the table, including citizen participation in the peace process and humanitarian dynamics. «We will raise issues such as reactivating the ceasefire with the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism, Participation and humanitarian dynamics. It is possible that not all issues will be resolved, but they will be raised for new meetings,” said Grabe.
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The official also highlighted that one of the objectives of this meeting is to understand to what extent the ELN is willing to advance at the table with the Government of President Gustavo Petro. «In the next meeting with the ELN we hope to reactivate the Roundtable, address the factors of the crisis and see how the Roundtable’s activities are normalized. “We want to address how far the ELN wants to advance with this Government,” he added.
The context for this meeting in Caracas arose after an exchange of letters between both parties, in which the willingness to continue with the process and unblock the critical points that have hindered progress in the dialogues was reiterated. In a recent statement, the Government Delegation expressed its willingness for the meeting: “We accept the invitation (from the ELN) to hold a meeting that allows us to address all these issues and resume our dialogue in search of generating the peace that we need. Colombian society demands of us.
Furthermore, Vera Grabe emphasized the importance of the participation of society as a central element in the peace process. “The participation of society is the heart of the process and has an agreed route towards a transformation plan, so that its proposals are the substance,” he stressed, underlining the role of communities in the construction of a lasting peace with a transformative meaning. .
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