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Spain Y Chili “They will be accompanying countries” of the peace negotiations between the Colombian government and the ELN guerrillas that will resume in November, Colombian Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva reported Thursday at an international forum in Buenos Aires.
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Both countries had offered to support the talks suspended by the former president Ivan Duke (2018-2022) after a deadly car bomb attack on a police school in Bogotá in 2019.
Together with the foreign ministers of Spain and Chile, Leyva confirmed “officially” what will be “Accompanying countries of the Colombian peace process”.
The leftist government of Gustavo Petro and the National Liberation Army (ELN) agreed to reestablish the talks starting in November in “rotating venues” between the countries that are guarantors of the process: Venezuela, Cuba and Norway.
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“The purpose of all these (international) meetings must be the search for total peace, that is our commitment”assured the Colombian foreign minister during the meeting in the Argentine capital, which was attended by representatives of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the European Union and diplomats.
Leyva also thanked his Cuban counterpart for “facilitate their territory to make peace” and assured that “Cuba is not a terrorist country.”
The Colombian government has asked the United States to correct the “injustice” which, he assures, he committed by including the island in the black list of nations that support terrorism after his participation in the peace process.
Cuba was the seat and guarantor of the peace agreement with the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), now converted into a political party.
He also welcomed the process with the THE Nthe last recognized guerrilla in Colombia, until the abrupt end of the talks.
Then-president Duque asked the Cuban authorities to hand over the guerrilla’s negotiating team, to which Cuba opposed, alleging the previously agreed protocols, which established the safe return of the rebels to Colombian territory in case the talks failed.
So, Bogotá pushed for the United States to reconsider Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.
In January 2021, in the last days of the Donald Trump administration, Washington included Cuba on that list along with Iran, Syria and North Korea.
After assuming power on August 7, Petro promised to lead the country to “total peace”, with the proposal to negotiate the disarmament and submission to justice of rebels and drug trafficking organizations, respectively.
Source: Elcomercio
I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.
