“Several groups have already joined: the Central General Staff, the Second Marquetalia, there are the AGC (Colombian Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces), there are several city offices and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Self-Defense Forces,” Rueda told Caracol Radio.
The mention includes the FARC dissidents led by Iván Mordisco and Iván Márquez and the Clan del Golfo -the informal name of the AGC-, the largest drug organization in the country.
The official explained that the groups promised not to commit crimes and are willing to work for the “total peace” proposal promoted by the government of President Gustavo Petro.
“Each group with its own identity and nature and motivation is expressing its willingness to be part of total peace. In this exploration phase they have been asked: not to kill, not to disappear and not to torture,” the official said.
“Total peace” is the commitment of the Colombian Government to achieve the disarmament of armed groups, drug traffickers and criminal gangs that operate in some areas of the country, and the Executive sent Congress a project in this regard, for the matter to be State policy .
In addition, Rueda revealed that the possibility of a bilateral ceasefire is being analyzed, but that it is a decision that should be analyzed with Petro and with the Defense Minister.
Although he did not give details of how the exploration with the different armed groups is progressing, he assured that the peace office is “exploring legal mechanisms to allow the transition of armed groups to the rule of law,” reported the site of the newspaper El Espectador.
As for the National Liberation Army (ELN), the last guerrilla recognized as such by the State, the Commissioner for Peace indicated that the corresponding protocols are being applied and once that phase is over, it will be President Petro who will elect the representatives who sit at the dialogue table.
“We are still applying the protocols. When this phase is over, the President will designate the members who will represent the interests of Colombians at this dialogue table,” added the official.
The ELN was already in a peace process, which began in 2014, when the organization agreed to negotiate with the government of Juan Manuel Santos, which then had negotiations open in Cuba with the FARC, the main insurgent organization at the time, with which it finally An agreement was reached in 2016 for demobilization and incorporation into legal political life.
The negotiations with the ELN first took place in Quito, Ecuador, and later moved to Cuba.
But Santos’s successor, Iván Duque, broke those efforts when the ELN attacked a police cadet school with a car bomb in 2019, leaving 23 dead, including the driver of the car.
Several of the ELN commanders have remained in Cuba ever since. This generated diplomatic tension because Duque demanded that La Haba extradite the command so that it complies with judicial requirements, but the island refused, relying on compliance with the protocol of the negotiations, which contemplated that in the event of a break, the chiefs could return to their camps.
Source: Ambito
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