US supports peace process in Colombia Turkey sees progress in NATO accession of Sweden and Finland

The government of Colombia and the rebel organization ELN want to involve the United States in their ongoing peace talks. Both sides agreed to explore Washington’s willingness to “participate in the process,” according to a statement from Norway. The peace talks are organized alternately by Venezuela, Cuba and Norway.

At the request of the AFP news agency, the US State Department initially declined to confirm that the United States would participate in the talks.

According to the statement, talks have so far taken place in an environment of “confidence and optimism”. The Colombian government and the ELN also agreed that Brazil, Chile and Mexico should be invited to participate in the talks. Germany, Switzerland and Spain are also invited as “accompanying participants”.

Peace talks started on Monday

Peace talks began in Caracas on Monday. The first round lasts 20 days. Earlier negotiations broke down after a car bomb attack by the ELN in 2019 that killed more than 20 people.

In 2016, the largest Colombian guerrilla organization, the FARC, signed a peace agreement with the government. Since then, the ELN has been the strongest remaining rebel organization in the South American country. The ELN, founded in 1964, is said to still have some 2,500 fighters, mainly located in the border areas with Venezuela and on the Pacific coast.

In Colombia, the state and various guerrilla groups have been fighting each other for more than half a century. President Gustavo Petro, who was elected Colombia’s first left-wing head of state in August and was himself a former guerrilla fighter, has set himself the goal of ending the armed conflict. (aeg/sda/afp)