High Commissioner for Peace ColombiaIván Danilo Rueda, officially announced this Friday that his government will take the necessary steps to resume peace talks with the guerrilla group National Liberation Army (ELN).
Rueda made this announcement in Havana, where he traveled this Thursday with the Colombian Foreign Minister, Álvaro Leyva, to explore the possibility of restarting the dialogues with the ELN, reports the EFE agency.
“Both parties agree on the need to start the dialogue process” to demonstrate the “real will” of the Colombian government and the ELN to seek “total peace”, “stable, lasting and sustainable”, he stated, quoted by the Spanish media .
The high commissioner stressed that the Colombian government will adopt “all political and legal measures” to “guarantee the conditions” necessary for the resumption of talks and added that it “recognizes the legitimacy” of the ELN’s willingness to dialogue “in the search for peace”.
Likewise, he pointed out that “he has verified” that the guerrillas also listen to “the voices of multiple sectors of society” that ask for a cessation of hostilities.
Declaration of the High Commissioner for Peace ?? Iván Danilo Rueda.
? https://t.co/fGvwYf3kcY pic.twitter.com/4lt8T7uO7o
— Cuban Foreign Ministry (@CubaMINREX) August 12, 2022
Rueda y Leyva’s trip took place after President Gustavo Petrowho took office last Sunday, reaffirmed at the beginning of the week that he would seek to resume peace talks with that guerrilla and indicated that in the coming weeks it would be known if these negotiations will continue to be carried out in Cuba.
Also this Friday, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel met with representatives of the Colombian government and the ELN, a meeting also attended by Norwegian guarantors, representatives of the UN Secretary General and the Colombian Episcopal Conference.
During the meeting, the Cuban president ratified Cuba’s “invariable commitment” and “unwavering will” to continue contributing to the achievement of peace in the South American nation, as expressed on Twitter.
I confirmed to all the participants in the meeting the invariable commitment to #Cuba and the unwavering will to continue contributing to the achievement of the desired peace for #Colombia. pic.twitter.com/F5RrHYQGlC
– Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) August 12, 2022
Díaz-Canel also thanked Colombian Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva, who rejected the decision of the United States to keep Cuba on its list of State sponsors of terrorism, according to a report. EFE.
The Spanish agency also reports that the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, backed this Friday the Colombian government’s decision to explore the resumption of peace talks with the ELN and offered the organization’s support.
Guterres welcomed “President (Gustavo) Petro’s efforts to deepen and expand peace in Colombia,” according to a statement read by his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, in which he made United Nations assistance available.
The spokesman reported that, within this framework, the UN special representative in Colombia, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, has accompanied the delegation from Bogotá that traveled to Havana on Thursday to begin rapprochements with the guerrilla group.
The negotiations of the Colombian Government with the ELN began in 2017 in Quito, during the presidency of Juan Manuel Santos, and in 2018 they were transferred to Havana, where the main leaders of the guerrilla are still, despite the fact that during the government of Iván Duque was definitively paralyzed.
EFE / OnCuba
