MIAMI, United States. – Cuba will be the host country of the third phase of the Table of Peace Dialogues between the Government of Colombia and the National Liberation Army (ELN), reported both parties in a joint statement quoted by EFE.
The announcement came a few days after the end of the current cycle that has been held in Mexico City since mid-February.
In the statement, both parties thanked the Cuban government for “its readiness” and “unconditional support” for peacebuilding efforts in Colombia for more than four decades. However, no date was specified for the start of the talks in the largest of the Antilles. It is known that they will take place after a break after the closing of the sessions in Mexico City.
During the talks in the Mexican capital, the key point has been to work to reach an agreement for a ceasefire by both parties, but mechanisms for the participation of society in the construction of peace have also been discussed.
It is expected that this Friday the delegations of the Government of Colombia and the ELN guerrilla will present a new joint communiqué at the end of the cycle in Mexico City where they will present the achievements.
In an interview with EFE last FridayThe ELN’s chief negotiator, Pablo Beltrán, stressed that “confidence levels” had risen between both parties, but he was cautious about agreeing to a bilateral ceasefire. “We aspire that in this cycle in Mexico we can at least mend the essence of what a ceasefire is. There is no agreement, but there is the idea that each party puts on the table what the essential elements are and on that have a first package of consensus,” Beltrán said.
Negotiations between the Colombian government and the ELN, which began in 2017 and were interrupted for four years, resumed in Caracas in 2022 under the auspices of Cuba, Norway and Venezuela as guarantor countries.
Mexico, Venezuela, Norway, Chile and Brazil are guarantors of the peace talks, while Sweden, Germany, Switzerland and Spain act as accompanying countries.
The decision to return to Cuba in this third phase of the peace talks was well received by the Government of Colombia and the ELN. “Cuba’s presence as guarantor and host of the negotiations has always been important, because it is a country that has had experience in conflict negotiation processes and in peace building,” said the Colombian government’s chief negotiator, Juan Camilo Restrepo. .
In Cuba, it is expected that the parties will be able to advance on the agenda of the talks and that an agreement will be reached for the ceasefire in the near future.
