The ELN confirms an open crisis with the Government after the freeze on dialogue

The host National Liberation Army (ELN)alias ‘Antonio García’, confirmed this Wednesday that the peace negotiation process between the guerrillas and the Colombian government is “in open crisis” due to a situation “that can be seen coming”, alluding to a regional dialogue that would be established in the department of Nariño (southwest) .

“When such a line-up is made public, disguised as regional dialogues, the process enters an open crisis and we are forced to call our delegation for consultations, which would put the dialogues into a freezing phase while the National Government prepares to comply with the agreement,” García said after learned on Tuesday that the ELN is ending the dialogue.

The alleged setup referred to by the ELN leader is a regional dialogue that the government would initiate “outside the national process and ignoring the ELN delegation and the table”, although neither the guerrillas nor García gave further details about this process.

“This situation, which could be seen coming, was officially presented at the table by our delegation, which, if it continued in its course, would bring the dialogue process into crisis by violating the agreed agreements,” García added.

Head of Government Delegation, Vera Grabathis Wednesday he stated that they “met the agreed criteria” from the beginning, and that by freezing the negotiations, the ELN is creating an “unnecessary crisis” in the “process in which there are signed agreements”.

“In the hands of the ELN is its decision today to evaluate the progress we have made, to evaluate the steps taken towards peace, to evaluate the agreements and deepen the peace process that we have advanced. It is the Government’s decision to continue to respect the agreements and continue to progress in this peace process” , Grabe said.

Crisis in dialogues

“Without our responsibility for what happened, the dialogues between the ELN and the National Government would have entered a freeze phase while the Government prepares to abide by what was agreed,” the ELN’s Central Command (COCE) said in a statement dated May 19. February in the “Columbia Mountains”.

The announcement comes less than two weeks after the Government and ELN concluded Havana the sixth cycle of peace talks in which they agreed to extend for another 180 days the bilateral ceasefire that began on August 3, and the guerrillas also committed to a “unilateral and temporary suspension of economic detentions”, as calls for civilian abductions.

At the moment, none of the delegations have given more details about the trigger of this crisis, but Governor Nariña, Luis Alfonso Escobarhe explained that in the first week of March, he will set up “the first regional peace table with an armed actor” without specifying who it is, because they want to give the country insight “that dialogues at the national level are one thing, and peace in territorialization is another.”

The chief government negotiator referred to the initiatives of mayors and governors who “respond to the population, to the demands and needs of each region; the reactions and responses that sectors or structures of the ELN have correspond to the ELN,” she said. ., without giving more precision on the matter.