(Bogotá) The Colombian army will resume its “offensive” actions against the Guevarist guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN), after the expiration on Saturday of the ceasefire in force since 2023, announced Monday the Minister of Defense, Ivan Velasquez.
“Offensive operations are resuming. This is the order given by the general commander of the military forces” to all army units, Velasquez said at a news conference.
Despite the insistence in recent days of the UN, the Catholic Church and the government that this ceasefire be renewed, the Guevarist ELN allowed the truce to expire this weekend.
On Saturday, the ELN peace delegation published a statement on the social network X, in which it highlighted the “non-compliance”, according to it, by the government with the agreements signed in recent months during the negotiation rounds held in Cuba, Venezuela and Mexico.
In this statement, the guerrillas demanded that the government remove the ELN from the list of “organized armed groups” (GAO), which includes various armed groups and in particular guerrillas with political or ideological discourse.
If the government agrees to this request, the ELN has promised to resume discussions “to evaluate the ceasefire and decide whether to continue it.”
Asked about the ELN’s demands, Velasquez said Monday that “it is a question that can always be discussed.”
In April, the ELN announced the freezing of peace talks, criticizing in particular the establishment of a dialogue between the governor of the department of Narino (southwest) and a dissident faction of the ELN, in parallel with the ongoing talks.
Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first left-wing president, is trying to defuse the country’s six-decade conflict by holding talks with guerrillas and other armed groups.
Negotiators from both sides meet in cycles in Cuba, Venezuela and Mexico, but experts say the prospect of disarming the group’s estimated 5,800 fighters remains remote.
The ceasefire has been suspended several times after guerrilla attacks on civilians and security forces.
The highly decentralised structure of the ELN, a far-left movement inspired by Guevarism and influenced in particular by liberation theology, has proven to be one of the main obstacles to rapid progress towards a possible agreement.