Bogotá, Nov 24 (EFE) .- Colombian President Iván Duque is exploring the possibility of resuming the peace talks with the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN), his predecessor, Juan Manuel Santos, revealed this Wednesday in the commemorative act of the fifth anniversary of the signing of the peace agreement with the FARC.
Santos intervened in the act called “Weaving an agreement for life”, in which the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, also participated, in front of which he praised Duque, also present, because, as he said, “he was mounted on the peace train as we have seen it with great satisfaction lately “.
“I understand that the president is also exploring ways to resume peace talks with the ELN, that fills us with hope. In that effort he will find all our support and I am sure, that of the United Nations and the international community,” Santos said. Nobel Peace Prize in 2016.
Santos, who governed from 2010 to 2018 and five years ago signed the final peace agreement with the FARC with Rodrigo Londoño, known then as “Timochenko,” the last head of that guerrilla, also began peace talks with the ELN, in February 2017 in Quito and then moved them to Havana, but those talks stalled at the end of his term.
Duque, who assumed power on August 7, 2018, conditioned the resumption of these dialogues on the ELN renouncing the crime of kidnapping and releasing all the captives in its power, but those conditions were never met by that guerrilla, whose negotiating team has remained in Havana ever since.
However, last May the then High Commissioner for Peace, Miguel Ceballos, said that the Government continues to seek conditions to reactivate peace talks with the ELN with the support of the Catholic Church, the UN and the Mission to Support the Process. of Peace of the Organization of American States (MAPP / OEA).
Santos recalled today that “peace belongs to all Colombians and the entire world and for it we must work together until the end of our days.”
The former president defended the consolidation of peace with the FARC despite the obstacles he encounters daily in the country and said that “without the support of the international community we would not be here in this commemoration; it has never been easy to make peace, The UN does know. “
“The peace train that so many and so many have wanted to derail or stop, continues its course, continues to advance and is due in large part, Mr. Secretary General, to your honor, to the Security Council that has approved more unanimous resolutions supporting the process than against any other issue under their jurisdiction, “said the former president. EFE
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Santos says Duque seeks to resume peace talks with the ELN