Colombia’s new president Gustavo Petro said on Saturday (20) that he is suspending arrest warrants and extradition requests for members of the leftist guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN) in an attempt to resume peace talks and end to almost 60 years of war.
The announcement is part of a key campaign pledge by Petro, a former member of the M-19 guerrilla who took office on Aug. 7 vowing to establish “total peace” in Colombia.
“I authorized the re-establishment of protocols, allowing negotiators to reconnect with their organization again, suspending arrest warrants for these negotiators, suspending extradition orders for these negotiators, in order to initiate a dialogue with the National Liberation Army,” he said. Petro.
“This resolution opens up a new possibility for a peace process in Colombia,” Petro said after attending a security council meeting in Bolívar province.
Representatives of the ELN, founded in 1964 by radical Catholic priests, have remained in Cuba since previous negotiations, which began under the government of Juan Manuel Santos, were called off in 2019.
The group said shortly after Petro’s election that it was willing to consider negotiations.
Source: CNN Brasil
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