The five officials were Bladimir Díaz Ravelo, Secretary of Mobility; Anyi Lorena Roa, Social Communication intern; and the traffic agents, Arnold Delgado Quitian, Dany Tuesta Reyes and Andrey Martínez.
The kidnapping occurred when the workers were returning to the urban area of Santa Rosa del Sur after giving an educational talk to the community in a rural area on June 9.
“We reiterate to the illegal armed groups the importance of keeping the civilian population out of their actions to advance in real gestures that allow dialogue with the current Government and thus be able to achieve the peace that we all long for,” said the Ombudsman, Carlos Camargo.
The ELN and the Government are on the verge of entering into a bilateral ceasefire agreed upon in the peace talks between the two, which is scheduled to start on July 6 and last for six months. However, the guerrilla’s chief negotiator has already announced that kidnappings and extortions are not contemplated in the ceasefire for the moment.