Colombia: Petro's government and ELN terrorists agree to extend the ceasefire for six months

The Government of Colombia and the National Liberation Army (ELN) announced on Tuesday in Havana (Cuba) that they had reached an agreement to extend the bilateral ceasefire in force since August 3 for a further six months.

"We have agreed to extend, starting at 00:00 on February 6, 2024, for one hundred and eighty days, the Bilateral, National and Temporary Ceasefire (CFBNT)," says the document released by the two parties, to which AFP obtained access. In the document, the Colombian terrorists undertake to suspend the kidnappings that they continued to carry out in recent months despite the peace negotiations, such as the kidnapping that occured involving the father of soccer player Luis Díaz.

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, sent an official delegation to the Cuban capital last August to begin rapprochement with the narcoterrorist guerrillas. The Government's talks with the ELN had been stalled since 2018, when then president Iván Duque demanded the release of all the kidnapped people that the guerrilla band had in its possession and the renunciation of all its criminal activities. Since then, the guerrillas have repeatedly failed to fulfill their commitments.

The provisional ceasefire between the Government of Colombia and the ELNinitially set to expire on Monday, February 5, however, it has now been extended for a further six months. This extension allows the ELN to further pursue their demands and conditions, contingent upon their adherence to commitments such as ceasing criminal activities, including kidnappings. In this sense, the ELN indicated that it is committed during this truce period to “unilaterally and temporarily suspend economic withholdings.”

Peace negotiations with the ELN, which according to official figures has more than 5,000 active members, began in Caracas (Venezuela) in November 2022 at the behest of Colombia's leftist president, Gustavo Petro, who launched a 'Total Peace' plan with terrorist groups and drug trafficking organizations.

Petro's predecessor, Iván Duque, had suspended talks with the ELN following a deadly attack on a police training school.