BOGOTA.- The guerrilla National Liberation Army (ELN), in peace negotiations with the government of Colombiaannounced this Monday that it will resume the kidnappings, arguing that the Executive failed to fulfill its commitment to provide donations from the international community.
The insurgents, in a truce with the public force since 2023, had agreed to “unilaterally and temporarily suspend economic withholdings” in January of this year, after a crisis in the negotiations motivated by the kidnapping of the father of the Colombian soccer player from Liverpool Luis Diaz.
In its announcement, the National Directorate of the ELN assured that said commitment was conditional on the implementation of a “multi-donor fund” with resources from the international community that would be delivered to them.
“The Government shows little will to advance in this field. Given the above, the ELN terminates its offer of unilateral suspension of economic withholdings,” said the leadership of that guerrilla in its Telegram messaging application account.
The resumption of kidnappings implies a new blow to a peace process that is advancing at a slow pace and amid accusations of non-compliance by both sides, which have been talking since the end of 2022 in rotating venues.
“The delegation of the Colombian government has always made it clear to the ELN that trade with human beings has no (…) justification and its elimination is not the subject of any transaction,” the Executive reacted in a statement.
“We hope that the ELN maintains the commitment made to Colombian society and the international community and puts an end to any form of kidnapping,” added President Gustavo Petro’s delegates.
The state Ombudsman’s Office, which oversees human rights, stated in a statement that the ELN demonstrated “for the umpteenth time how little will it has to carry out a peace conversation.”
The negotiation was frozen for several weeks in April due to a parallel agreement between the government and a dissident faction of the ELN for the demining of a region in the south of the country. In the middle of that month, the parties resumed the process after an “extraordinary meeting” in Caracas.
According to the government, the “multi-donor fund” is for “the financing of the peace activities contained in (…) the dialogues” and “in no way was it created as compensation for the suspension of the kidnapping.”
The kidnapping of Luis Díaz’s father lasted for weeks and generated great rejection in a country where some 50,000 people have been victims of this crime in six decades of armed conflict, according to the state Truth Commission.
Mane Díaz was released in November and the rebels recognized that his kidnapping was a “mistake”
Founded in 1964, the ELN is inspired by the Cuban revolution and liberation theology.
Source: With information from AFP
