It will begin on February 13 in Mexico.
The peace delegations of the Government of Colombia and the guerrilla of the National Liberation Army (ELN) expressed this Saturday in Caracas their confidence and tranquility in view of the second cycle of the dialogue, which will begin on February 13 in Mexico, and after giving the recent crisis due to differences over the use or not of violence during negotiations has been overcome.
The parties issued a joint communiqué that was read at the end of an extraordinary meeting -which lasted for five days-, in which they calmed down after the guerrillas denied a bilateral ceasefire decreed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
“This situation of misunderstanding has now been overcome,” the Executive’s chief negotiator, Otty Patiño, told reporters, after assuring that the meeting in the Venezuelan capital served to restore confidence and strengthen the dialogue table.
The crisis, he explained, occurred in “times when the table is not active”, so “misunderstandings can be generated”, but the delegations are ready to “discuss the issues that are coming in the second cycle” and that include the participation of society in the construction of peace.
“We are going to go through this stage calmer, more confident,” he assured.
No termination announcements
The joint declaration anticipates that in February they will begin to discuss the possibility of a ceasefire, an issue, according to Patiño, that remained “on the table” and “as a matter of the first order”, although it will not be the only one and will need the establishment of protocols.
“It is a thousand times preferable to advance in a negotiation – in which a de-escalation of the conflict has been reached – in the midst of a ceasefire, that is something that both delegations share,” he said.
In this regard, the head of the ELN delegation in the dialogue, Israel Ramírez, alias ‘Pablo Beltrán’, indicated that for a ceasefire to work “rules of the game must be agreed”, something that they plan to work on in the coming meetings.
“That’s going to take time. Since you are going to work for several weeks in Mexico, (we hope) we can make progress on that agreement,” she said.
In his opinion, the rules should cover both the actions of the Armed Forces and those of the ELN, a guerrilla, he said, which “is not binational” and which is respectful of the borders with Venezuela and of the authorities of that country, without leaving to recognize that they have a presence in areas close to the territorial limits of Colombia.
Regarding the multilateral ceasefire proposal put forward by the Executive, Beltrán recalled that the ELN is committed to “peace with social justice”, therefore their claims include issues that have not been discussed or agreed upon with the Government, but which, he predicted , “they are going to rule the table” in the next meetings in search of agreements.
Guarantees and observation
The delegations highlighted the role of the guarantor countries in resolving this crisis and hope to continue counting on their support in establishing the protocols that may apply, as well as in adjusting the dialogue agenda, a pending task for February.
This second cycle, the delegations announced, will start with a full evaluation of what has been achieved and learned so far.
Meanwhile, the restoration of confidence at the table has been celebrated by the guarantor countries (Venezuela, Cuba, Chile, Norway and Mexico), as well as by the permanent accompaniers, the Colombian Episcopal Conference and the UN.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro celebrated the “political will” shown by the parties, as well as “the high level of openness, sincerity and transparency with a view to overcoming differences.”
In addition, the UN considered that this last meeting served to strengthen the dialogue process and advance in the construction of peace.
EFE