Colombian delegations and the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) announced this Thursday that the army had been disbanded. third round of peace talks Which is taking place in Havana, Cuba, was postponed until this Friday, July 9, to “finalize the details” of the agreement.
The decision comes amid the visit of the President of Colombia Gustavo Petro’s plan for Havana To close this phase of talks in which the declaration of a bilateral ceasefire between the parties is expected. According to the head of the Colombian negotiating team, Otti Patino, the ceasefire, if agreed upon, would last for six months.
“In the next few hours I will travel to Havana to participate in the conclusion of the third cycle of the Roundtable for Peace Dialogues,” Petro said on Twitter.
Peace talks to begin in late 2022 in Venezuela, where the first round of talks proceeded, which continued in Mexico in March this year and in Cuba on 2 May. It was due to end on 29 May, but a series of unforeseen events and disagreements between the parties delayed the talks.
Regarding the headquarters of the country where the fourth scenario of the talks would take place, the government and the ELN planned to meet in either Venezuela or Brazil, which joined the process in February as a guarantor country.
The ELN, founded in 1964, sought peace agreements with various governments, but was unsuccessful. Now with Petro in power, the first left-wing president in the country’s history, they seek to end the conflict that has killed more than 450,000 people.
