Original title: Colombian government and main rebels ceasefire
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, January 2. Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced a temporary ceasefire with major rebels in Colombia starting from January 1.
Petro said on social media Twitter that the Colombian government has reached a six-month ceasefire agreement with five armed groups including the National Liberation Army of Colombia, and whether it will be renewed in the future will depend on the progress of subsequent negotiations.
The Colombian government issued a statement on the 1st that the implementation of the ceasefire agreement will be supervised by the United Nations, the Colombian Human Rights Ombudsman and the Catholic Church.
On August 7, 2022, in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, Petro Petro was sworn in as the president of Colombia.Published by Xinhua News Agency (photo by Paz)
The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Colombia, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, welcomed the Colombian government’s decision on the 1st.
The Colombian government signed a peace agreement with the former largest anti-government armed forces, the “Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia” (referred to as “Colombia”) in 2016. “Gewu” was disarmed the following year and transformed into a political party, but some members opposed the surrender and set up another hill.
Another major armed force, the National Liberation Army of Colombia, will resume peace negotiations with the Colombian government in November 2022, which had been interrupted for nearly four years. The armed forces announced a unilateral ceasefire on December 19, 2022, which will last until January 2 this year. The Colombian government called on other armed groups to also join the ceasefire.
After taking office in August last year, Petro Petro, who came from the left wing, changed the previous government’s attitude towards the rebels, advocating an end to the civil war and a comprehensive peace. (Wang Hongbin)