Government of Colombia asks ELN to work on a participation agreement

The Peace Delegation of the Government of Colombia with the National Liberation Army (ELN) today asked the insurgent group to work on compliance with the agreement on participation and the ceasefire, among other issues.

In a statement released on social networks, the government representation also urged the ELN to suspend the so-called economic withholdings and to focus on the humanitarian dynamics demanded by the country’s residents.

The message is spread at a time of freezing in the dialogues, as defined by the armed group, and of crisis, due to alleged non-compliance on the part of the Government during the talks process indicated by the guerrilla.

“We have just signed the first point of the Agenda for Dialogues on Participation -Agreement 28- to comply with the communities and sectors that placed their trust in the design of democratic intervention in this process, even in the midst of the rejection that the non- ELN’s renunciation of kidnapping for economic reasons has generated in Colombian society,” the note alleged by the government delegation.

The text also added that the Government keeps its word and the ceasefire, despite the ELN’s freeze announcements.

We have fulfilled all commitments, which includes proposing solutions to the crises, the communication further alleged.

“We understand that, in the development of the Sixth Congress of the ELN, discussions are being held to define positions. But this does not justify the strategy of aggression against the President of the Republic and members of the government’s peace team, nor unfounded claims of non-compliance. “Using external claims to settle internal contradictions does not contribute to the peace process,” he remarked.

Likewise, it ended with the request to the ELN “to make substantive decisions about its commitment to peace.”

The statement responds to the statements made by Antonio García, commander of the guerrilla.

In a previously released communication, he reiterated that the talks are frozen due, among other issues, to the emergence of an “alleged dissidence” of that guerrilla structure in Nariño (southwest), and that the guerrilla attributes to a plan organized by the president’s cabinet, Gustavo Petro.

“Military intelligence has sold to the current government that the ELN is on the verge of collapse, it has been its worst mistake, because instead of focusing on a serious peace process it has preferred to follow the guidelines of the counterinsurgency plans. From total peace we are turning to total uncertainty, García said in the published text.