The Cuban Government confirmed this Wednesday that the island will host the third cycle of the Roundtable for Peace Dialogues between the Government of Colombia and the guerrilla of the National Liberation Army (ELN), shortly after this joint organization announced it.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel assured on Twitter that his country “is honored to accept the official request” from both parties and to “contribute to achieving the long-awaited peace for our sister nation.”
#Cuba?? has the conditions to host the third cycle of the Government of #Colombia??-ELN.
?Interview of @CubaMINREX Eugenio Martínez Enríquez, General Director of Latin America and the Caribbean of the Cuban Foreign Ministry.
?https://t.co/cd9pRnCQBp pic.twitter.com/KKZRVwsjuQ
— Cuban Foreign Ministry (@CubaMINREX) March 8, 2023
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez also assured that, as Díaz-Canel had assured, “Cuba will make every effort for Peace in Colombia.”
In parallel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) argued In a statement that Cuba “accepted the official request” of the parties and recalled that Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel promised that his country would make “all efforts for peace in Colombia.”
“Consequently, Cuba maintained its willingness to continue as Guarantor and Alternative Headquarters of the Peace Dialogues Table,” said MINREX.
A representation of the Government of Cuba has participated in the two cycles of talks held in recent weeks between the Colombian Government and the ELN in Venezuela and Mexico, respectively.
On August 12, 2022, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, Álvaro Leyva, met in Havana; the Colombian High Commissioner for Peace, Iván Danilo Rueda, and the ELN’s chief negotiator, Pablo Beltrán, and formalized the resumption of peace negotiations.
Our Government is honored to accept the official request of the Government of the Republic of Colombia and the National Liberation Army (ELN), to celebrate in Havana the Third Cycle of the Roundtable for Peace Dialogues, and contribute to achieving the long-awaited peace for sister nation.
— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) March 8, 2023
The US included Cuba on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism after, after the breakdown of negotiations in 2019, Havana refused to extradite ELN negotiators on its territory.
Its inclusion on this list has serious financial and economic repercussions for Cuba, which in turn has been subjected to a broad package of sanctions by the US for decades. Colombian President Gustavo Petro and the ELN have rejected this enlistment.
Efe/OnCuba.
