- ELN explained that the bilateral ceasefire announced by the Colombian President on 1 January is unilateral. "This agreement has not been discussed with the government," they say. Gustavo Petro rejects the ceasefire pact and asks the guerrillas to establish a "verifiable menia" to "reduce violence".
The government of the president of the Colombian left, Gustavo Petro, has claimed from the beginning of his mandate the desire to achieve “total peace”. The law of total peace was passed in early November, and the government is holding talks with several guerrilla and paramilitary groups.
The President stated that he had agreed to the bilateral cease-fire between 1 January and 30 June 2023 with five armed groups, including the ELN National Liberation Army. Well, the OECD has now denied it and expressed in a statement that the delegation of talks did not discuss with the government “any proposal for bilateral fire”: “A unilateral government decree cannot be accepted as a pact”, they stress.
The CoR recalled that this is something that needs to be done in the next cycle of interviews in Mexico: “It is agreed that Mexico has just fixed the agenda. Upon completion of the plan, we will be ready to discuss the bilateral cease-fire proposal and to monitor the conditions.” The spokesman for the Colombian Government and the Minister for the Interior, Alfonso Prada, has confirmed that the debate on the truce with the CoR will resume in forthcoming interviews. For the time being, they have suspended the pact announced at the beginning of the year.
Meanwhile, Pedro "invites" the guerrilla team to reclaim a "reliable menia" to "respond to the demands of the communities" and reduce violence. From 24 December to 2 January the OECD established a unilateral menia.