Guerrilla leader Iván Mordisco announces ceasefire for presidential election in Colombia

The so-called Central General Staff, led by guerrilla commander Iván Mordisco, announced the "suspension of offensive military operations" from May 20 to June 10 in a statement. The dissident faction of the defunct FARC commanded by Colombia's most wanted guerrilla announced a ceasefire on Friday for the May 31 presidential election, which are being marked by high levels of violence.

Rebels who rejected the 2016 peace deal are among the main players in the deteriorating security situation in the country, mired in its worst violence crisis in a decade ahead of polls to elect the successor of leftist President Gustavo Petro.

"Sufficient conditions of tranquility"

The ceasefire seeks to provide the "sufficient conditions of tranquility for the Colombian people to attend the polls en masse." Petro has tried unsuccessfully to negotiate with Mordisco as part of his policy of "total peace," with which he wanted to achieve the disarmament of all rebel groups in the country.

In April, Mordisco's men killed 21 people in a bombing attack on a highway in the southwest of the country, the worst attack on civilians in two decades.

Following the disarmament of the FARC, which became a political party, Petro is currently only holding negotiations with the powerful drug cartel Clan del Golfo and some smaller guerrilla groups.

Death threats against main candidates

On May 31, the main candidates will be leftist Senator Iván Cepeda, who proposes continuity of those negotiating efforts, and others who promise a tough hand on crime, such as millionaire lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella and opposition senator Paloma Valencia.

Violence also has also affected the candidates. Last August, Senator Miguel Uribe, who aspired to be the presidential candidate of the main opposition party, was killed in a shooting attack in Bogotá.

De la Espriella has claimed he received death threats and gives his campaign speeches from behind bulletproof glass.

Paloma Valencia has also revealed intimidating messages against her, for which the government recently reinforced her security. In addition, Petro claims that there is information about a plan of an assassination attempt against his ally Cepeda, the favorite in the polls.