ELN guerrillas announce an “armed strike” in the northeast of the country
The National Liberation Army (ELN), which has opened peace talks with the government, announced on Wednesday an “armed strike” in a poor region of the northeast.
Peace talks in Caracas, December 12, 2022, between the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas.
AFP
In a statement released on Wednesday, the National Liberation Army (ELN) banned traffic and all activity along the San Juan, Sipi, Cajon and Calima rivers in the predominantly Afro-Colombian province of Choco. “The strike begins on December 15 from 6:00 p.m.” (00:00 a.m. Swiss time), announced the ELN, the last guerrilla still active in Colombia since the demobilization of the FARC after a peace agreement in 2016.
The rebels justify this action because of the Monday assassination of “young Santiago Caceres” by “paramilitaries”, with the complicity of the police, according to them. The guerrilla called on the population to respect this strike to avoid any “inconvenience”, ensuring that its “units are ambushed on the river to ensure security and maintain control”, according to its statement.
“Lack of consistency”
This hardening comes at a bad time for the government of Gustavo Petro, which announced at the beginning of the week that it had “successfully” concluded the first round of negotiations with the guerrillas in Caracas. “The ELN must act in a coherent way, because if we are in a scenario of peace, then it should understand that this type of communication does not benefit its credibility”, declared in front of the press the representative of the president for these peace negotiations, Danilo Rueda. He specified that he was in contact with the guerrillas to obtain a “response on this subject”.
The Colombian government and the ELN ended a first round of peace negotiations Monday in Caracas, which allowed them to agree on the release of hostages or humanitarian actions, but not on a ceasefire. According to the authorities, the ELN currently has some 2,500 members, and is mainly present in the Pacific region and on the border with Venezuela, which is 2,200 kilometers long. She led failed negotiations with the last five presidents of the country.
AFP
You found an error?Please let us know.