The ELN is holding 38 abductees according to the Colombian government

Guerrilla from National Liberation Army (ELN) At least 38 people have been kidnapped in Colombia, according to information disclosed by Defense Minister Iván Velásquez.

“All these people who are in power of the National Liberation Army and for whose freedom a reward is soughtthey were kidnapped,” a senior official told reporters.

This statement is known the day after the chief commander of that guerrilla, alias ‘Antonio García’he assured that “the ELN does not carry out kidnappings”, sparking controversy amid peace talks with the government that appear to be at a standstill.

“There are different acts of deprivation of liberty, but they are different: prisoners, hostages, detainees, kidnapped and disappeared. ELN accepts only prisoners and detainees“, said the guerrilla leader on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

In this regard, Velásquez stated that when “detention is carried out for coercive economic purposes, such as those carried out by the ELN, This retention is called kidnapping and is within the definition of extortion kidnapping.“.

For him International Humanitarian Law (IHL)Under the Geneva Conventions, hostage-taking – which includes any civilian who has no role in the conflict or when money is demanded in exchange – is a war crime.

The government and ELN announced the start on Monday the fifth cycle of the Peace Dialogue Table in Mexico Cityin the midst of the crisis that the process is going through due to the kidnappings committed by that armed group.

In two letters published last week, the guerrilla stated that the negotiating table is experiencing a “critical” moment which “affects the implementation of the agreements partially signed so far, as well as the development of the negotiation agenda”.

That caused delays on several occasions the beginning of this new round in Mexico, which started on Monday.