Peace talks with Colombia government in crisis, ELN rebels say

BOGOTA (Reuters) – The National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels have stated that peace talks with the Colombian government are in a state of crisis, while the government has accused the rebels of prolonging the process.

President Gustavo Petro restarted talks in 2022 to achieve “total peace” between the government and various armed groups, with a conflict that has claimed the lives of at least 450,000 people over six decades.

The ELN claims that the government’s participation in regional talks with communities in the province of Narino violates the agreement to hold a national dialogue with the support of bodies like the United Nations.

“Now this farce, dressed up as regional dialogue, is public, the process enters into open crisis and we are obliged to recall our delegation for consultations,” the ELN stated on its website late on Tuesday.

It said the peace talks, which are currently between negotiating cycles, would be “frozen” until the government adjusts its position.

The government’s negotiating team stated in their own release that they have fulfilled all their commitments and are engaging in conversations with local communities as requested.

“The decisions unilaterally taken by the ELN are their complete responsibility, and they generate unnecessary crisis that prolongs the armed confrontation and the violence that communities suffer, as well as weakening society’s confidence in (the rebels’) will for peace,” said the government delegation in a statement early on Wednesday.

ELN leader Antonio Garcia told Reuters this week that the group will respond with force to any break in the recently-extended ceasefire with the government.

The group, founded in 1964 by radical Catholic priests, has 5,800 members, including some 3,000 combatants, and agreed after an earlier cycle in the talks to end kidnapping for ransom.

(Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb and Luis Jaime Acosta; editing by Philippa Fletcher)