Colombia and ELN rebels extend ceasefire by six months

According to a joint statement from the government and the insurgent National Liberation Army (ELN), they have decided to prolong their bilateral truce by an additional six months. Last Monday, a six-month cease-fire that had been initially extended by five days came to an end. At their conference in Havana, negotiators from both sides agreed that the 180-day Bilateral, National, and Temporary Ceasefire (BNTFC) would be in effect. El Niño declared in a statement that it has chosen to “unilaterally and temporarily suspend economic detentions, a commitment that will be followed up by the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism” at midnight. While discussions were going on, the ELN ceased abduction, but its commanders did beg for financial support from the government to keep its forces in the field. President Gustavo Petro’s government restarted peace talks with the ELN in 2022 as part of a policy of “total peace” to end the South American country’s six-decade conflict, in which more than 450,000 people have been killed. So far, Petro’s government has held six rounds of peace talks with the ELN, a process supported by Mexico, Norway, Venezuela, Cuba, Brazil and Chile, which are participating as guarantor countries. Colombia´s president is also negotiating with the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), the largest armed group of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels.