Colombia will seek to ‘accelerate’ the ceasefire with the ELN

He Colombian government will seek to “generate momentum” in a bilateral ceasefire with the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas, who are blamed for the attack that killed nine soldiers and undermined confidence in the armed group’s will for peace.

High Commissioner for Peace Danilo Ruedahe assured that in the next round of talks, which in principle is planned for May without an official date yet, “the decision that will be made will be the acceleration” of the bilateral cease-fire decree.

“The bet is to agree to a break and de-escalation. It is not possible to continue building peace scenarios in the midst of power. What strength shows, in a way, is weakness”he said in an interview with the institutional station Colombia Hoy Radio.

Tonight, Rueda and the government’s negotiating team will meet with Colombian President Gustavo Petro to assess the situation after last Wednesday’s attack and see what path they will take, although they do not initially intend to leave the negotiating table. it has already completed two rounds – in Caracas and Mexico City – and will be installed in Havana in the coming weeks.

In an attack with explosives and rifle shots in Guamalito, corregimiento in the municipality of El Carmen, in the department of Norte de Santander, two non-commissioned officers and seven “soldiers” were killed. who were serving their military service”, according to Petro information, and nine more soldiers were injured.

The ELN justified the attack by alluding to the fact that “he has the right” to attack the security forces of the Colombian state because a bilateral ceasefire was not agreed upon in the peace negotiations with the Government.

“The ELN has the right to respond to the attacks it receives, since we have not yet agreed to a bilateral ceasefire. If we disqualify the actions carried out by the ELN, we should also disqualify those carried out by government forces. The ELN has the right to respond to the attacks it receives, since we have not yet agreed to a bilateral ceasefire. If we disqualify actions carried out by the ELN, we should also disqualify those carried out by government forces.”” said ELN commander-in-chief Eliécer Chamorro, alias “Antonio García”, in a series of messages posted on Twitter this Thursday.

However, Rueda pointed out that “The use of force is unnecessary. The shedding of blood by soldiers, policemen, peasants, Afro-descendants or natives or any inhabitants is useless. It is an ethical position.”

As the commissioner said a few weeks ago in an interview with EFE In the last round of negotiations in Mexico, an “architecture” was reached to achieve a “national bilateral break with the possibility of extension”, which in his opinion is better than what has been achieved on other occasions with this guerrilla.

Rueda assured that they believed in it “There is that will” for peace in the ELN delegation that is at the table, despite these attacks.