Following the announced restart of talks, taking place in Caracas, between the government of Colombian President Gustavo Petro and the Colombian National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas, which were interrupted for almost four years during the term of the ultra-right ex-president , Iván Duque, both parties, reunited, finally saw their faces in the Waraira Repano, and presented a declaration that affirms that peace is the dream of those gathered there and changes their paths.
The text released after the first face-to-face meeting, after the agreement signed in the house to resume peace negotiations, indicates that the Dialogue Delegations of the Government of the Republic of Colombia and the National Liberation Army, ELN, meeting in the Bolivarian Republic from Venezuela, at the top of Cerro Ávila, a sacred place for the indigenous people who lived here, today officially known as Waraira Repano, in the National Park that bears this name, looking out over the Caribbean Sea and the city of Caracas, they met »with , optimism, certainty and hope for» the efforts that end more than six decades of fratricidal war in Colombia.
With the mediation and guarantee of Venezuela, Norway, Cuba, the United Nations and the Colombian Catholic Church, among others, the parties resolved, according to the statement that was made public:
- “Resume with full political and ethical will, as demanded by the people of rural and urban territories that suffer from violence and exclusion, and other sectors of society, the process of political dialogue between the National Government and the ELN.”
- Build peace based on a democracy with justice, and with tangible, urgent and necessary changes that this Roundtable agrees on, giving the greatest possible and effective participation of society, prioritizing sectors that have been historically marginalized and abandoned, for a present and future of dignity with full rights and authentic democracy, so that Colombia is a power of life.
- Thank the persistence, commitment and presence in this scenario of meeting of reason and dreams, of the Guarantor countries: the Republic of Cuba, the Kingdom of Norway and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, today host and host country; as well as the Verification Mission in Colombia of the United Nations Organization, and the Catholic Church through the Episcopal Conference of Colombia. Each and every one of their actions have given us moral, political, and legal support, which enhances our human responsibility and care for common goods.
- Share that the construction of peace as a State policy transcends temporality with permanent and verifiable commitments that sow the certainty of a new culture of peace, founded on real changes that allow the overcoming of political violence and its causes.
- Assume the values that are basic and imperative in the world today, respect for all forms of life and their dignity. In this dialogue and negotiation we are aware of the need to respond to the various dimensions of collective life, which imply our duties to care for the planet, our Common Home.
It is worth noting that this Monday’s meeting is the first of those scheduled to achieve the objective of “total peace”, promoted by Petro and the cornerstone of his electoral campaign, with which he reached the Casa de Nariño as the first president who did not He is part of the Colombian oligarchy in more than 200 years of republican history in that country.
On behalf of the Colombian government, the head of the negotiating team that sat down at the table in Waraira Repano, was the demobilized ex-guerrilla of the M-19 Otty Patiño and the participation of the president of the Colombian Federation of Cattlemen (Fedegan), was also announced. José Félix Lafourie, while on the ELN side the head of the negotiators is Israel Ramírez Pineda, alias of Pablo Beltrán.
It is expected that the venues of the dialogues will rotate, so the next meetings could take place in other settings.
