representatives of the government of Colombia and of the National Liberation Army (ELN) announced this Friday the first three agreements reached after the reinstatement of dialogue in the city of Caracas, Venezuelaseveral media outlets report.
The points of agreement endorsed point to the strengthening of the process in which the parties seek to establish peace and are reached after a week of talks in the Venezuelan capital, reports a office from the Prensa Latina (PL) agency.
In a week the Peace Talks Table between the Government and the ELN produced its first 3 agreements:
1. Guarantor and accompanying countries.
2. Agreement on humanitarian actions and dynamics.
3. Communications from the Peace Dialogues Table: pic.twitter.com/wEq2b1wuMO— Iván Cepeda Castro (@IvanCepedaCast) November 25, 2022
A joint communiqué read by the representatives of Venezuela, Carlos Martínez, and Norway, Marid Vanzig, indicated that the deliberations took place in “an atmosphere of trust and optimism” with the support of the guarantor States, the United Nations (UN) and the Catholic Church, adds the information.
As reported, the three agreements are related to guarantor and accompanying countries, humanitarian actions and dynamics, and joint declarations and communications.
In relation to the first agreement, Cuba was ratified as one of the guarantor countries of the process, a recognition of the role played in the peaceful solution of the oldest armed conflict in the Latin American subregion.
Before the reestablishment of these dialogues, both parties had established the headquarters of their contacts in Havana, until the previous Colombian government headed by Iván Duque decided in January 2019 to get up from the table and issue international arrest warrants against the representatives of the ELN.
In addition to Cuba, Norway and Venezuela were ratified as guarantor countries of the negotiations. In addition, it was decided to invite Brazil, Chile and Mexico to assume the same role, the report specifies.
In turn, the Secretary General of the United Nations Organization (UN), through its special representative in Colombia, and the Episcopal Conference of the South American nation were formalized as accompanying dialogue.
Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Spain were invited to join the process, also as accompanying persons. The parties approved carrying out diplomatic actions with the United States government to find out their willingness to participate in the negotiations.
Regarding the second aspect, referring to humanitarian actions and dynamics, the Colombian executive and the ELN assumed the point of the agreements corresponding to the agenda established in March 2016, for which relief processes will be carried out in the short term. humanitarians.
Dialogue between the Colombian government and the ELN guerrillas restarts in Venezuela
A Mesa de Diálogo mechanism will be formed with the support of the Verification Mission of the United Nations and the Church, indicates the press agency.
A final agreement referred to the need to form a joint communication team to “report in an objective, timely, clear and transparent manner on the development and progress of the dialogue process.”
The Colombian government and the ELN guerrilla formally resumed peace talks on November 21, after four years of interruption. Caracas was chosen as the scenario to continue the process after the decision of President Nicolás Maduro for Venezuela to join as a guarantor country, at the request of his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro.
