The return of the delegations to Havana, which was already the venue for contacts between the parties until the freezing of negotiations in 2018, a decision by then-Colombian President Iván Duque (2018-2022) after an ELN attack, may contribute to progress. .
“Cuba has been indispensable in the search for peace between the governments of Colombia and the ELN. Not from now, but from a long time ago,” Senator Iván Cepeda, a member of the government delegation, told EFE, noting that “fundamental dialogues” took place on the island between the parties.
The Cuban government is aware of its role. In an interview with EFE, the general director of Latin America and the Caribbean of the Foreign Ministry, Eugenio Martínez, highlights that when both parties asked Havana to return to the island, the Executive replied that it was “an honor.”
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“For Cuba it is a firm conviction, a deep conviction that the Colombian armed conflict must have a political solution” and “that it is time for Colombia to achieve peace,” he affirms.
Martínez defines the role of Havana as “discreet”, “impartial” and “very responsible”, guaranteeing the climate for a dialogue “without interference”. “We support politically, diplomatically, and we create the conditions for the parties to have a stage, like Havana now, so that they can work fully,” he points out.