Havana – The Government of Colombia and the National Liberation Army (ELN) announced in the early hours of Tuesday, February 6 in Havana that they had reached an agreement to extend for six months the bilateral ceasefire in force since August 3.
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“We have agreed to extend, starting at 00:00 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 accounts (formerly Twitter).
In the text, dated February 5, the last active guerrilla in Colombia also pledges to abandon kidnappings.
The “ELN to contribute to the development of CFBNT unilaterally and temporarily suspends one-time withholdings,” states the agreement signed by Vera Grave, head of the Colombian delegation, and by Pablo Beltrán, leader of the guerrilla delegation.
EXTENSION OF THE BILATERAL, NATIONAL AND TEMPORARY CEASE-FIRE
We have agreed to extend, starting at 00:00 hours on February 6, 2024, for one hundred and eighty (180) days, the Bilateral, National and Temporary Ceasefire (CFBNT).
🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/7ELXbEkOR5— ELN Delegation (@DelegacionEln) February 6, 2024
During the fifth round of peace negotiations held in Mexico in December, the ELN already expressed its intention to suspend the kidnappings it committed to raise funds by collecting ransoms.
Mexico's agreement helped overcome the crisis over the October 28 kidnapping of the father of Colombian soccer star Luis Díaz of English club Liverpool, who was released 12 days later.
The Government of Cuba, headquarters of the talks, called this Tuesday morning the closing ceremony of the VI round of negotiations that has been 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.
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.
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 Petro, who launched a 'total peace' plan with rebel groups and drug trafficking organizations.
His predecessor, Iván 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.
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