The government of Petro and the ELN agree to a truce while continuing negotiations

Colombia and National Liberation Army (ELN)the largest guerrilla in the country after the demobilization of the FARC, signed this Friday a Stop the fire temporary nature, in six monthswhich is a boost to the complete peace project of President Gustavo Petar, after multiple failures in recent months.

“The people of Colombia are showing that there is a second chance for peace under the sky of the country,” said the progressive president, paraphrasing Gabriel García Márquez, speaking to the ELN leader, commander alias Antonio García, and Cuban President Miguel Díaz Canel. The three appeared dressed in white guayaberas, the kind the Colombian and FARC delegations wore in 2016 during the final phase of the peace pact negotiations.

Petro dared to state the date of signing the final agreements: “In May 2025, the decades-long war between the ELN and the state will end”he said, a statement that remains to be seen whether it will go down well with the guerrillas, who do not want to reveal aspects of the negotiations in public.

The dialogues between the two sides, in fact, entered a crisis in January, after Petro unilaterally announced a bilateral ceasefire and was reprimanded by the ELN, which denied having reached any agreement. The differences increased after a guerrilla attack in March that killed nine soldiers, but both sides have recently calmed tensions. “This peace process must be different. We really want to see change,” said Commander Garcia. The arrest warrants against him were suspended last week by a government order.

The fourth cycle of dialogue will soon take place in Venezuela. In any case, doubts remain about the internal unity around the peace project in the ELN and the leadership ability of its commanders. García again denied the major this Friday. “Don’t tell stories, we are one voice,” the guerrilla leader said, but some analysts believe there is a lack of internal cohesion and that this will affect the dialogues.