The Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) have entered a six-month ceasefire agreement as officials negotiate for lasting peace within the country.
The new deal is seen as the largest victory for Colombian President Gustavo Petro amid his efforts to end decades of armed conflict within the nation. The ceasefire agreement is set to last until February and results from talks that restarted last year.
Colombia, Rebel Group Enter Ceasefire Agreement
The president, who was first seated in August 2022, made pursuing "total peace" in the South American nation a key goal of his administration. He has committed to negotiating with armed groups to deliver a complete end to the fighting.
In a video released on Monday, the rebel group's top commander, Eliecer Herlinto Chamorro, who is also known as Antonio Garcia, said that the ELN central command was ordering all units to suspend offensive operations against the government's armed forces, police, and security organizations, as per Aljazeera.
However, Garcia noted that the ELN group would continue defending itself even amid the ceasefire if needed. On Tuesday, Danilo Rueda, the Colombian government's high peace commissioner, said that the ceasefire would prevent violence and human rights abuses such as kidnappings.
He argued that the country's civilian population could finally rest easy during the agreement period. On the other hand, the International Crisis Group said that if the six-month-long ceasefire agreement is successful, it would be the "longest bilateral ceasefire ever concluded with [a] guerilla group."
Throughout the nearly six decades of conflict in Colombia, more than 450,000 people have lost their lives. Negotiations between the government and the ELN group, which has roughly 2,000 to 5,000 fighters, began again in November in Venezuela after being suspended in 2019 under the administration of Ivan Duque, Petro's predecessor.
Government officials hope that with the ceasefire agreement, they will be able to protect the nation's people. The ELN group's lack of a unified command has made negotiating difficult. Additionally, according to the New York Times, individual factions usually act autonomously, even sometimes against high commanders' orders.
Decades of Conflict
Negotiations between the rebel group and the government were suspended under the previous administration after the ELN bombed a police academy in Bogota, the nation's capital, killing 22 cadets. Now, an entity filled up of officials from the Colombian military and government, the United States, and religious groups will be responsible for monitoring the enforcement of the ceasefire agreement.
Petro also called on the nation's political groups to take advantage of the opportunity to reach a broad national agreement with the ELN to achieve lasting peace. He also appealed to the leaders of the guerilla group to leave behind deadly violence. He said, "everyone who really wants to transform this society, in today's world, must be on the side of life."
If progress is made in the peace talks between the two sides, the ceasefire agreement could be extended in January. It comes as guerillas were blamed last month for the slayings of three Colombia police officers on the border with Venezuela, the kidnapping of an army sergeant and her two minor children, and several bombings, said the Associated Press.
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