The Government of Colombia and the guerrilla of the National Liberation Army (ELN) set up this Monday the dialogue table in Caracas to restart the peace negotiation process suspended in 2018 by decision of the then president of the Andean country, Iván Duque.
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A few hours after the event, which takes place more than a month after the announcement of the resumptionsome doubts persist, among them, the methodology and, mainly, the total composition of the teams, which will finally be known today.
On the side of the government of President Gustavo Petro, the names of Otty Patiño, a former M-19 guerrilla, who will be the head of the negotiating team, and the president of the Colombian Federation of Cattlemen (Fedegan), José Félix Lafourie, bitter enemy of the guerrillas.
For the ELN, there will be Israel Ramírez Pineda, alias “Pablo Beltrán”, -second in command of that guerrilla- as head of delegation. The rest of the participants were not announced. Venezuela plays a fundamental role in the dialogue due to a fact that differentiates it from the two other guarantor countries -Cuba and Norway- due to its proximity to Colombia, which facilitates the strong presence of the ELN in border states, where members of the guerrillas have put down roots in recent years.
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Of the eight ELN war fronts, the Northeast – one of the most powerful – also operates in the Venezuelan region of Zulia (northwest), and the Oriental, in Apure (southwest). The last meeting between the parties was on August 1, 2018 in Havanaduring the Government of Juan Manuel Santos, which ended without reaching any agreement, six days before Duque came to power, who put the talks in the freezer.
EFE
