After more than three years, negotiations for peace between the Colombian government and the left-leaning ELN guerrilla group have restarted.
The negotiations in the Venezuelan capital Caracas come after Gustavo Petro, a former rebel who was elected president of Colombia on the left.
When he took office in August, he made a promise to put an end to the conflict’s nearly 60-year history.
The final remaining rebel organization is the National Liberation Army (ELN), and a truce has not yet been achieved.
2019 saw the end of negotiations when a Marxist organization bombed a police academy in the nation’s capital, Bogota, killing 22 cadets.
Although some Farc dissidents refused to sign it, a peace agreement with the bigger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) was struck in 2016.
After so many years of armed violence, these discussions in Caracas represent a significant turning point for Colombia, according to BBC South America correspondent Katy Watson.
The ELN has roughly 2,500 members, and it is alleged that it obtains funding through illegal mining and drug trafficking.
Cuba, Norway, and Venezuela have all committed to co-sponsor the peace effort.
Pablo Beltrán, the leader of the ELN delegation, said: “We cannot consider each other as enemies; our mission is reconciliation.”
“Human dignity” must be the main topic of the peace talks, according to Colombia’s High Commissioner for Peace, Danilo Rueda, to remove the threat of murder or kidnapping.
