Government of Colombia proposes to ELN to resume the Dialogue Table

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, will propose to the representatives of the National Liberation Army (ELN) the resumption of the Dialogue Table between both parties, after the talks were stopped last April, the Prensa Latina news agency reported. .

The information was disclosed in a virtual press conference by the head of the government delegation, Vera Grabe, who highlighted that they received the order from President Gustavo Petro to communicate the proposal to the ELN so that it could judge and respond.

For his part, the member of the negotiating commission, Senator Iván Cepeda, considered that this is a proposal that seeks to promote dialogues and not only direct towards factual and procedural discussions.

“We hope that the ELN responds as soon as possible to this opposition that the president will make public at the time, when he considers it. “The negotiations are not dead, communication channels are preserved, the Government remains open to any discussion,” he expressed.

On August 3, the ceasefire between the Colombian government and the armed faction ended, and when an agreement was not reached, hostilities between the Armed Forces and the ELN restarted, as announced last Monday by the Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez. .
A few hours after the announcement, the ELN gave the Colombian Government until August 23 to publish a presidential decree recording the withdrawal of that structure from the list of Organized Armed Groups (GAO).