BOGOTA.- The guerrilla commander of the National Liberation Army (ELN)Eliécer Chamorro Acosta, alias “Antonio García”, denied that the group commits kidnappings and described those who deprive their freedom as “prisoners and detainees”, a day after the Government of Colombia demanded the release of all hostages.
“The ELN does not carry out kidnappings. There are different actions of deprivation of liberty, but they are different: prisoners, hostages, detainees, kidnapped and disappeared. The ELN only takes prisoners and detainees,” Chamorro wrote on the social network X.
These statements come when the respective peace delegations of the Government of Colombia and the guerrilla are holding the fifth round of talks in Mexico City these days, after the crisis that occurred between both parties due to the kidnapping of the parents of soccer player Luis Díaz. by the ELN.
In the last hours, “Antonio García” also took the opportunity to criticize those who claim that the guerrilla is not complying with its part of the ceasefire, directly accusing the military forces of being responsible.
“The real crisis of the table and the peace process is due to other reasons and realities, among which are the systematic violations of the ceasefire by the State Armed Forces and the almost null role of the monitoring and verification mechanism “, said.
In that sense, he trusts that this and other “disagreements” with the Government of Gustavo Petro will be evaluated in this last cycle of negotiations in Mexico City. “That is the feeling of the command and all the ELN structures,” he said.
The ELN was founded in 1964 under the influence of the Cuban revolution and the liberation theology of Catholic priests. Since then he had five negotiations with the State that were unsuccessful. The most recent attempt began in November 2022 with the arrival of Petro to the presidency of Colombia.
The focus on kidnappings
Kidnappings as a guerrilla practice became the focus of the negotiation following the kidnapping of Luis Manuel Díaz Jiménez and Cilenis Marulanda, parents of the soccer player for the Colombian national team and the English club Liverpool, at the end of October. The mother was released the same day but the father remained captive for 12 days.
In its armed confrontation, the ELN has been responsible for more than 9,500 kidnappings between 1990 and 2018, according to the final report of the Truth Commission, a body created to clarify the facts of the Colombian internal conflict.
Kidnappings continue
After the release of Díaz Jiménez on November 9, the government’s peace delegation warned the ELN that the time has come to “make decisions that eliminate the kidnapping” and demanded the freedom of the other detainees.
According to the head of the government delegation Otty Patiño, since August 3 of this year – when a bilateral ceasefire began – the ELN has kidnapped 19 people.
The kidnappings as the main issue of the negotiation have plunged the dialogue table into a crisis and surround the fifth cycle of talks with tension.
“Error”
The day before, the guerrilla delegation indicated in a message from
Alias ”Antonio García” said that the kidnapping of the soccer player’s father was a “mistake” and justified the practice by assuring that the guerrilla is “poor” and has not committed to “not carrying out financial operations, including deprivation of liberty.”
Source: WRITING
