Details of the meeting in Caracas between the Colombian government and the ELN

EL TIEMPO exclusively learned details of the meeting between the ELN and the government of President Gustavo Petro in Venezuela.

The meetings, as this newspaper learned, are no longer being held at the famous Humboldt hotel in the Waraira Repano National Park, but rather at the Eurobuilding hotel in the exclusive area of ​​Las Mercedes, in Caracas.

José Félix Lafaurie, president of Fedegán and who is part of the negotiating table with the ELN, told EL TIEMPO that the dialogue has not ended after President Petro’s declarations about a ceasefire. On the contrary, this matter has allowed the parties to be heard. “The ELN raised the elements for which they reacted; they place enormous value on the institutionalization of the table,” he said.

Lafaurie also said that hearing, from the government, the arguments for a declaration of this nature allowed trust with the ELN: “The elements that the peace commissioner gave are satisfactory. This type of elements allows building trust and, as Pablo Beltrán said, , these disagreements make it possible to build trust and deploy actions that energize the table”.

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“It is a dynamic of dialogue upside down and we have to talk about that, about what Petro said that he is the president of Colombia and has the mandate of the majority of Colombians on this sensitive issue,” he added.

On whether Petro’s statements generated a crisis, Lafaurie assured that the proof is that they are sitting down and that this is an opportunity to talk.

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He revealed that they will go to Mexico in the second half of February, probably next Monday, February 13. “A second cycle that will be very interesting.”

In addition, Lafaurie confirmed the possibility of the dialogue continuing in Venezuela in the coming days.

ANA MARIA RODRIGUEZ BRAZON
WEATHER CORRESPONDENT
CARACAS