The government of Colombia and the National Liberation Army (ELN) announced early Tuesday in Havana who reached an agreement to extend the bilateral ceasefire in force since August 3 for six months.
“We have agreed to extend as of 00:00 hours on February 6, 2024, for one hundred and eighty (180) days, the Bilateral, National and Temporary Ceasefire (CFBNT)”says the document released by the two parties on their X (formerly Twitter) accounts.
LOOK HERE: Colombian government announces an agreement to extend the ceasefire with the ELN for 6 months
In the text, dated February 5, the last active guerrilla of Colombia He also pledges to abandon kidnappings.
He “ELN to contribute to the development of CFBNT unilaterally and temporarily suspends one-time withholdings“, states the agreement signed by Vera Gravehead of the Colombian delegation, and for Pablo Beltranleader of the guerrilla delegation.
During the fifth round of peace negotiations held in December in Mexicothe ELN has already expressed its intention to suspend the kidnappings it committed to raise funds by collecting ransoms.
Mexico’s agreement helped overcome the crisis due to the October 28 kidnapping of the Colombian soccer star’s father Luis Diazfrom English Liverpool, who was released 12 days later.
The government of Cubaheadquarters of the talks, called this Tuesday morning the closing ceremony of the VI round of negotiations being held in Havana since January 22.
“Crisis factors”
The complex negotiations led the two delegations to postpone on Monday the closing of this cycle in which it was planned to extend the truce, which officially expired on January 29.
On Monday morning, the ELN had explained in a statement on the social networktaking measures to resolve crisis factors and add new elements of commitment to be fulfilled by both parties” in order to agree on an extension of the ceasefire.
A week ago, the government and the ELN had already agreed to extend the truce for another seven days to give space to negotiations aimed at extending the truce for another six months.
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The rotating peace negotiations with the ELN, which according to official figures has more than 5,000 active members, began in Caracas in November 2022 at the request of the Colombian president, the leftist Gustavo Petrowho launched a Total Peace plan with rebel groups and drug trafficking organizations.
His predecessor, Ivan Duque (2018-2022), had suspended talks with the ELN after a deadly attack against a police school.
Colombia is a country hit by six decades of armed conflict that leaves 9.5 million victims: displaced, murdered, kidnapped and missing.
