Colombia nulls arrest warrants in bid to restart peace talks

International

-DW News

Colombia,
Aug
21:
In
a
bid
to
restart
peace
talks
in
Colombia
after
an
insurgency
well
into
its
sixth
decade,
the
newly
elected
President
Gustavo
Petro
has
suspended
arrest
warrants
and
extradition
requests
for
members
of
the
National
Liberation
Army
(ELN).

Petro’s
announcement
fulfills
a
key
campaign
promise
of
bringing
“total
peace”
to
Colombia.
Petro
is
himself
a
former
member
of
the
M-19
insurgency
and
said
he
was
doing
so
now
“to
start
a
dialogue
with
the
National
Liberation
Army.”

Following
a
security
council
meeting
in
Bolivar
province,
Petro
said,
“This
resolution
initiates
a
new
possibility
of
a
peace
process
in
Colombia.”

Colombia,
Venezuela
vow
to
rebuild
ties

What
is
the
status
of
the
talks
currently?

Founded
in
1964
by
radical
Catholic
priests,
the
ELN
comes
from
Latin
America’s
far-left
traditions.
Under
the
government
of
Juan
Manuel
Santos,
who
served
as
president
from
2010
to
2018,
the
state
began
talks
with
the
group.

However,
in
2019,
when
those
talks
broke
off,
representatives
of
the
ELN
have
opted
to
remain
in
Cuba.

Soon
after
Petro
was
elected,
representatives
of
the
ELN
said
they
would
be
willing
to
begin
talks.

Colombian
and
international
officials
visited
Cuba
this
month
to
determine
whether
talks
would
be
possible
with
the
radical,
decentralized
ELN,
Petro
said.

The
talks
began
in
Ecuador
in
2017
but
moved
to
Cuba
the
following
year.

Fire
kills
51
incarcerated
people
in
Colombia

Why
were
talks
called
off?

The
previous
government
of
President
Ivan
Duque
called
off
talks
with
the
ELN
after
one
of
the
group’s
bombs
killed
22
police
cadets
in
Bogota.

Previous
efforts
to
talk
to
the
ELN
have
been
unsuccessful
due
to
the
group’s
internal
divisions.

The
group
survives
through
illegal
mining,
drug
trafficking
and
kidnapping.

Source: DW