Colombia says 10 armed groups agree to unilateral ceasefire


Gustavo Petro President of Colombia

Wed, September 28, 2022 
By Luis Jaime Acosta

BOGOTA (Reuters) -At least 10 armed groups in Colombia, including former members of the FARC rebels who reject a peace deal and the Clan del Golfo crime gang, have agreed to participate in unilateral ceasefires, the government said on Wednesday.

President Gustavo Petro, who took office in August, has promised to seek "total peace" with armed groups, fully implementing a 2016 peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and meeting with dissidents and gangs.

"Each group with its own identity, nature and motivation is expressing its disposition to be part of a total peace, in this exploration phase we've asked them not to kill, not to disappear people and not to torture," Danilo Rueda, the government's high peace commissioner, told journalists at an impromptu press conference. "We are moving ahead."

Among the groups are two FARC dissident groups - the Estado Mayor Central and Segunda Marquetalia - as well as the Clan del Golfo, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Auto-Defenses and others Rueda did not name.

Illegal armed groups in Colombia - whose six-decade conflict has killed at least 450,000 people - count some 6,000 fighters in their ranks, according to security sources.

Leftist rebels and crime gangs both participate in extortion, murder, drug trafficking and illegal gold mining.

Petro - himself a former member of the urban M-19 guerrilla - has said his government could offer reduced sentences to gang members who hand over ill-gotten assets and give information about drug trafficking.

"The office of peace is exploring the judicial mechanisms to permit the transition of armed groups to rule of law," said Rueda, who previously met with FARC dissidents.

Petro also wants to restart Havana-based peace talks with largest active rebel group the National Liberation Army (ELN), which were called off by his predecessor, and Rueda traveled there soon after the inauguration.

The ELN favors a bilateral ceasefire to pave the way for renewed talks, its top negotiator told Reuters this month.

The government has said it will suspend aerial bombings of armed groups in a bid to avoid collateral damage to civilians and deaths of forcibly-recruited minors.

(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Paul Simao and Nick Zieminski)

Colombia peace process must solve causes of conflict - ELN rebel commander


Antonio Garcia, head of the delegation of National Liberation Army (ELN) for formal peace talks with Colombian government, talks to the media during a news conference in Caracas

Thu, September 29, 2022 
By Luis Jaime Acosta

BOGOTA (Reuters) - The top commander of Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group, which is exploring a resumption of peace talks with the leftist government, told Reuters any process must seek profound change for all of society and not political power for a few guerrilla commanders.

New President Gustavo Petro, a former member of the M-19 urban guerrillas, has promised to seek "total peace" by fully implementing a 2016 peace deal with the now-demobilized FARC rebels, restarting ELN talks and dialoguing with crime gangs.

"What is essential for a peace process is to overcome the causes which originated the armed conflict, to even think they are overcome with a few (congressional) seats for a handful of rebels would be miserly," said Eliecer Herlinto Chamorro, better known by his nom de guerre, Antonio Garcia.

He was answering questions sent by Reuters about whether the ELN will become a political party after a peace deal.

The FARC deal saw the demobilization of its 13,000 members and the creation of political party Comunes, which has 10 seats in congress guaranteed until 2026 which have been assigned to former guerrilla leaders.

"It's about achieving real change for the good of all society, real and participative democracy for communities and social organizations, making Colombian society more equitable, with social justice, respect for human rights, that political persecution of those who protest for just rights and the murders of leaders end definitively," said Garcia.

Lack of land access, deep economic inequality, historic persecution of leftists and lack of democratic participation are considered the principal causes of Colombia's six-decade conflict between the government, leftist rebels, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs, which has killed at least 450,000 people.

UNITED FRONT

Garcia, 66, said the demobilization of the ELN - accused of forcibly recruiting minors, drug trafficking, murders, kidnappings and bombing attacks - will be resolved at the negotiating table.

Though Petro has said talks should be carried out quickly, the quality of any agreements will be a variable when determining the negotiations' timeline, Garcia said.

The most recent talks with the ELN collapsed under Petro's predecessor, after the group refused to suspend armed action and killed 22 police cadets in an early 2019 bombing.

Other attempts at dialogue have failed to bear fruit because of a diffuse chain of command and dissent within the ranks of the ELN, which was founded by radical Catholic priests in 1964 and counts some 2,400 fighters.

There is precedent for rebel resistance to peace deals - several top FARC commanders reject that deal and remain armed in dissident groups, with whom Petro also wants to dialogue.

But Garcia said the eight ELN units operating in the jungles and mountains of Colombia are united with their negotiators - many of them elderly, unlike most fighters - who remained in Cuba after the collapse of previous talks.

"The ELN remains united by political identity and its democratic methods to construct policy in a constructive way and try to solve differences," he said, echoing recent comments by the group's head negotiator in Havana. "We will stay united, that is the decision of the last (rebel) congress, and we will face any challenge united."

Garcia said profound changes are needed in Colombia - where about half the population lives in some degree of poverty - but those in power must first be held to account.

"Even though the country requires adjustments to its fundamental laws, what most affects us is the lack of compliance with laws by those who hold power," he said.

(This story adds dropped word 'be' in third paragraph)

(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Alistair Bell)