The guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) said Tuesday that the delegation 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 several occasions we have pointed out that the ELN only complies with what is discussed and agreed at the dialogue table where we participate. A unilateral decree of the government cannot be accepted as an agreement,» the guerrillas explained in a communiqué signed on January 1, but released on Tuesday.
The ELN has pointed out that after finishing last December 12 the first round of negotiations in Venezuela «only agreed» what was announced with respect to institutionalize the dialogue table and make a series of adjustments to the agenda that must be consulted both by the president, Gustavo Petro, and by the central command of the guerrillas.
In this sense, he has advanced that in the next round of dialogue that will take place in Mexico, it was agreed to complete the adjustments to the agenda and once it is concluded, the proposal of the bilateral ceasefire will be discussed «to examine the terms that make possible an agreement».
«We understand the Government’s decree as a proposal to be examined in the next cycle», said the ELN, which thus breaks with the December 31 announcement by President Petro that his Government had reached a bilateral ceasefire with this guerrilla group as well as with four other armed groups.
The restart of the stalled negotiations with the ELN was one of Petro’s first announcements with international impact, after these had been interrupted by the government of former president Iván Duque in response to an attack by the guerrilla in January 2019 in a police academy that left a score of people dead.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
