Havana (EFE).- The guerrilla chief negotiator of the National Liberation Army (ELN), Pablo Beltrán, assured that his objective is to agree to a ceasefire in the third cycle of peace talks with the Government of Colombia, but He asked for “realism” in his definition to “make it work one hundred percent.”
“We come to this cycle to agree to a ceasefire,” Beltrán assured in a meeting with some international and Colombian media in Havana on the eve of the start of this third round of bilateral contacts.
He stressed that this measure, which he pointed out that it will be “preliminary” because it is not an “end of conflict” cessation, must be “totally achievable, measurable and evaluable.”
“We are very interested in it working 100 percent, with zero errors, that it is not as elementary as that of 17 (on the occasion of the Pope’s visit), but also that it is not so heavy and complex that it is difficult to comply with,” he explained.
The success of the definition of the term and its implementation on the ground is, in his opinion, key in several aspects.
There are no minors under 16 or forced soldiers
Beltrán assured that in the guerrilla there are no minors under 16 years of age and that no one is forced to enter or remain in their ranks.
Beltrán made these statements in Havana, on the eve of the start of the third cycle of peace talks between the ELN and the Government of Colombia, when he was questioned about it during a meeting with various international and Colombian media.
He indicated, on the one hand, that the internal regulations of the ELN “adhere to international humanitarian law”, with which the entry into ranks is from the age of 16.
He also added regarding the issue of minors in the conflict, which has gained strength in recent days, that it is “prohibited” to force someone to join the guerrilla or to remain within it.
The negotiating agenda with the ELN generates resistance
The chief negotiator of the guerrilla of the National Liberation Army (ELN) recognized that the agenda of the peace negotiations with the Colombian Government, which conceives peace as a social “transformation” and not as a mere “pacification”, generates resistance in the country .
Beltrán made these statements in Havana, on the eve of the start of the third cycle of peace talks between the ELN and the Government of Colombia, during a meeting with international and Colombian media.
The chief negotiator pointed out that this conception of the peace process is “new” and that it is achieved thanks to the arrival of a progressive government with the victory of Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez.
“If Colombia’s problems are big, structural, we can’t stop at cosmetic or superficial things,” he said.
The “problem”, he acknowledged, is that this change in the conception of peace “is a very big political leap that not everyone in Colombia understands and not everyone in Colombia shares it.”
That is why he advocated doing “work” so that “more and more people support” that idea of ”structural” transformation, an effort in which the ELN feels like a “partner of the Government.”