UNTIL now, there are no agreements on a definitive date to end the armed conflict with the ELN, assured the commander of that guerrilla, Eliécer Herlinto Chamorro, alias ‘Antonio García’, denying President Gustavo Petro, who from Cuba last Friday, reported, after the culmination of the third cycle of peace negotiations, that the “end of the war” would have been set for May 25, 2025.
“An important clarification about the last agreements signed: In the statements I made on the closing day of the III cycle, I clearly said that there were still no substantial agreements. So far the agreements are about procedures, ”said García, who is part of the negotiating delegation for the armed group, through his Twitter account.
He also assured that “the two agreements signed are about enlistments to advance the participation of society and the ceasefire.” Therefore, he clarified that “the issue of the end of the conflict is the fifth point, and we have not talked about it yet.”
At the beginning of the month, the national president surprised the country by announcing a date to end the war with armed guerrilla groups, which has left a painful balance for the country for many years.
“That this signing of these agreements, partial today, that leads you to a ceasefire, to a point that you have never experienced in the dialogues, to a ceasefire that continues with a promise: on May 25, in In May 2025, the decades-long war between the ELN and the State of Colombia ceases definitively,” the head of state said on that occasion.
The date given by President Petro was taken by most sectors as the moment in which the conflicts in Colombia with this illegal group ceased definitively.
without delayalso informed the country about important agreements such as the bilateral ceasefire and participation of society, ahead of the fourth stage of the talks that will start in Caracas, Venezuela.
However, the illusion of the Colombian population did not take long, since yesterday the ELN commander had to clarify the supposed confusion of the president. “President Petro confused it (making a clear reference to point 5) with point 4 of the Company Participation Agreement that says: “The development of the participation process covers the first three points of the Mexico Agreement and will be developed until the month of May 2025; moment in which the results of points 1, 2, 3 will be established and the corresponding agreements will be signed”.
Finally, he stressed that “the agreements are governed by the written and signed texts, not by what is said or interpreted.”
The pronouncement of ‘Antonio García’ comes amid questions from some sectors of society, after the national president’s pronouncement in Havana, on whether the guerrillas will stop extorting and kidnapping while the cycle of peace negotiations is completely closed to end the conflict.
Until the closing of this edition, President Petro had not issued any pronouncement regarding the clarifications made by the ELN commander.
cease fire
Last Friday, June 9, the delegations of the national government and the ELN made some agreements, after the end of the third cycle of negotiations in Cuba.
As is known, it was President Petro who was in charge of formalizing the announcement of a bilateral ceasefire, which has a first enlistment phase, which would start immediately and end on July 6.
In addition, the creation of a National Participation Committee was announced, which will have the participation of 30 sectors of society that will contribute to the transformation of the country and the achievement of peace.
An order was also announced from Cuba to stop the offensives of both sides (Government and guerrilla), so that on August 3 they formalize the ceasefire definitively.
Meanwhile, it was reported that the ceasefire measure agreed at the tables installed in Cuba will last approximately 6 months, so its end is set for February of next year.