The Peace Delegation of the Government of Colombia, in charge of negotiations with the National Liberation Army (ELN), confirmed this Wednesday, February 28, that all those kidnapped by that guerrilla until December 2023 are currently free. In total, there are 26 people reported and verified as kidnapped for economic purposes. The announcement takes place in the midst of negotiations that have suffered several setbacks.
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The Peace Delegation of the Government of Colombia announced this Wednesday, February 28 on the social network
During the V cycle of peace dialogue developed in Mexico, the National Government delivered a list to the ELN of 26 kidnapped people reported through the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism. Today we can affirm that none of these people are in captivity. #AdvancePeace
— Peace Delegation of the Government of Colombia (@DelegacionGob) February 28, 2024
The Colombian Government's chief negotiator with the ELN, Vera Grabe, confirmed that the guerrilla group had released all those who had been reported kidnapped until December 2023.
Grabe told the EFE Agency that during the cycle of negotiations in Mexico between the Colombian Government and the ELN last December, the Government verified that 26 people were kidnapped by the guerrilla group for economic purposes, a crime that represents a main financing base for the ELN. cluster.
Read alsoThe government of Colombia and the ELN resume peace talks
By December, the ELN released “all but three.” According to the chief negotiator, it was in the following cycle of negotiations, held in Havana in January, that the bilateral ceasefire was extended for an additional 180 days and that The ELN committed to “unilaterally and temporarily suspending economic withholdings”. The three remaining kidnapped people were released after these conversations.
For its part, the Colombian media El Tiempo indicated that the last person to be released was Jhon Jairo Jiménez, in the south of Bolívar, on February 23. “That is, they have complied,” concluded Vera Grabe.
Difficult negotiations
Grabe was in Havana on Monday, where both sides managed to thaw peace negotiations.
In recent weeks, the dialogues went through a period of crisis after the ELN denounced “actions that violate what was agreed upon at the Talks Table.”
“Without our responsibility for what happened, the dialogues between the ELN and the National Government would enter a freezing phase while the Government prepares to comply with what was agreed,” stated the ELN Central Command on February 19.
According to the guerrilla group, the regional dialogues in the department of Nariño, in the southwest of the country, did not respect the clauses agreed upon in the negotiation process at the national level.
“Within the perspective of territorial transformations and territorial peace, there is a very interesting experience that is taking place in the department of Nariño, led by the governor, who has a long commitment to this issue of transformations in the region,” Grabe explained Wednesday.
Although the negotiator said that these discussions should continue, she also explained that they should be carried out in a more articulated manner with the national negotiating table.
“The Government is the fundamental interlocutor in this process of dialogues with the ELN, So, recognizing the regional dynamics, we consider it important and we have insisted that there be levels of coordination, dialogue and cooperation with the national table,” Grabe recalled.
For his part, the governor of the Colombian department of Nariño, Luis Alfonso Jaramillo, assured that he will continue his “territorial dialogues with all social actors.”
“This war must be stopped now, we are fully willing to transform the territories, we are doing it and we are not going to stop doing it,” said Jaramillo.
Finally, Grabe celebrated having managed to unfreeze the negotiations.
“We have resolved them, we have found ways, we have assumed commitments… And there is something very important in this emergency meeting that we had and that is that the activities continue,” said the chief negotiator.
The ELN currently has more than 5,000 active members. After having held peace negotiations with five different governments without ever reaching a definitive agreement, official talks began with the Government of Gustavo Petro in Caracas in November 2022. These negotiations are part of the “total peace” plan promoted by the president. to reach agreements with armed groups.
So far, six rounds of talks have been held in Venezuela, Mexico and Cuba, interrupted by several setbacks.
With EFE and local media
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