ELN will continue kidnappings despite ceasefire
After the signing of the ceasefire with the National Liberation Army ELN, in Havana, Cuba, some controversial statements were made known by the commander of said guerrilla known as alias ‘Pablo Beltrán’, who left the door open for the armed group to continue with the kidnappings, classified by them as ‘withholdings’, as well as other ‘financial operations’.
It was after the closing of the Third Cycle of Dialogues with the ELN when, in dialogue with several media outlets, Beltrán pointed out that said ‘financing’ practices were not included during the agreement and that at least “for now” they will continue to be advanced.
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“The ELN’s financial operations began to be discussed here but that discussion did not end. It will continue to be discussed, so they did not enter into these protocols. It is hoped that later yes ”, initially declared the subversive chief, without explaining in depth what activities he was referring to.
“For example, if we collect taxes in the regions, those are ELN finances (…) In general, we don’t talk about kidnappings, we talk about ‘withholdings.’ If they are not necessary, they will not be done,” Beltrán said, without delving into what scenarios the ELN guerrillas may resort to such practices.