The ELN asked for “guarantees” that the cessation would fulfill “its main function”, which from its point of view is to improve the living conditions and human rights of the civilian population in the areas affected by the conflict.
The Colombian Government, for its part, wanted to expand the terms and set of prohibited violent actions included in the cessation of hostilities.
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The current ceasefire is limited to prohibiting actions offensive against the other party and any action not permitted by International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and the Government wants, in the words of chief negotiator Vera Grabe, “to include more what are called violating actions beyond kidnapping, those that affect the population.”
The ceasefire has led to a general reduction in violence, although it has had ups and downs that have generated uncertainty about the entire peace process, such as the kidnapping by the ELN of Manuel Díaz, father of Liverpool footballer Luis Díaz.