Mexico City (EFE).- The Government of Colombia and the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) began this Monday in Mexico City the second cycle of peace talks, with the main objective of reaching a ceasefire agreement bilateral.
“We are here with the impulse that Colombian President Gustavo Petro has given to peace as a State policy,” said Otty Patiño, head of the Colombian Government delegation, at the inauguration of the dialogue table at the Inter-American Conference on Security Social (CISS) of Mexico City.
Patiño remarked that in this round it will be essential to “produce facts”, stressing that “what is agreed at the table is implemented in the territories.”
The key point of the talks, which are expected to last for three weeks in Mexico, will be to reach an agreement for a ceasefire by both parties.
“Our agenda seeks transformations and an end to the armed conflict, with the determination to achieve a comprehensive and lasting peace,” said Pablo Beltrán, head of the ELN delegation.
Beltrán indicated that they will talk about the “preparations” for a “bilateral, temporary and national ceasefire.”
Peace with the participation of society
Another point that will be addressed in Mexico is the reference to the participation of society in the construction of peace, which has not been explored.
Although both parties want to involve women, civil society and peasants, there are different views on how to do it.
Sources close to the talks told EFE that there is cautious optimism about the evolution of this new cycle, but they recognized the enormous complexity that surrounds the Colombian conflict.
For his part, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard described the meeting as “a historic date for reconciliation in Colombia” and expressed his pride that the country is hosting this new cycle of talks.
Dialogues with international support
Negotiations between the Colombian government and the ELN, which were interrupted for four years after starting in 2017, resumed on November 22 in Caracas under the auspices of Cuba, Norway and Venezuela as guarantor countries.
Although President Petro announced the entry into force of the bilateral ceasefire on December 31, the guerrillas denied it days later, arguing that it had not been agreed upon in the talks.
Mexico, together with Venezuela, Chile, Norway and Brazil, are guarantors of the peace talks, while Sweden, Germany, Switzerland and Spain act as accompanying countries.
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