7 ay önce

Colombia, ELN rebels to hold extraordinary peace talks in Venezuela

Colombia's government and the ELN rebels will hold an extraordinary round of peace talks in Caracas, aiming to overcome a stall in progress and achieve new advancements.

Reuters

Colombia and Venezuela's government representatives, and members of the ELN attend the closing day of the fourth cycle of peace talks with Colombia's government, in Caracas, Venezuela, September 4, 2023. / Photo: Reuters

Colombian negotiators will travel to Venezuela's capital Caracas to hold an extraordinary round of peace talks with the leftist rebel group the National Liberation Army (ELN), the government has said.

The extraordinary meeting, which was requested by the ELN amid a stall in progress, will also be attended by delegates from guarantor countries — which include Norway, Chile and Venezuela — the government said in a statement.

"We hope that by April 22 we will have a decision with new and definitive advances," the government's chief negotiator Vera Grabe said in a statement on Wednesday.

President Gustavo Petro restarted talks with the ELN at the end of 2022 as part of his efforts to end Colombia's six-decade conflict, which killed at least 450,000 people, by inking peace or surrender deals with armed groups.

The ELN and the government have held six rounds of talks so far, resulting in a bilateral ceasefire, the establishment of a multi-donor fund to finance the process and a pledge from the ELN to suspend kidnappings for ransom.