Petro announces first agreement between the Colombian government and the ELN on displaced indigenous people

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petroannounced this Saturday an agreement with the ELN guerrillas to allow the safe return of an indigenous people displaced from the west of the country, the first since the resumption of peace negotiations.

“The first point of agreement that we reached with the ELN, in barely a week that these talks have been going on, is that the return of the populations displaced by that organization from Emberá indigenous territories to their reservations is allowed,” said the president during a public act in the municipality of Dabeiba (northwest).

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The president did not specify a date for the return of this community that fled their shelters in the departments of Chocó (northwest) and Risaralda (central-west), hit by a war that pits drug traffickers, paramilitaries and rebels from the National Liberation Army against each other. (ELN), the last recognized guerrilla in Colombia.

Negotiations with the insurgency, interrupted in 2019 by the previous government in response to an attack that left 22 dead in addition to the attacker, were resumed by Petro, the first left-wing president in the country’s history, who took office in August.

Government delegates and the guerrilla group founded in 1964 by trade unionists and students sympathizing with Ernesto “Che” Guevara set up the table on November 21 in Venezuela.

The first agreement could benefit a community that has organized massive occupations in various parks in Bogotá since the end of 2020, leading to strong clashes with the public forces.

humanitarian reliefs

The government and the ELN are talking without having reached a ceasefire between the public forces and the 2,500 guerrilla members, according to the Indepaz think tank.

However, they had promised to advance “humanitarian relief processes” as part of the negotiation agenda agreed in March 2016 with the government of Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018), which signed a peace agreement with the guerrillas that year. of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), demobilized and converted into a political party.

Despite the peace pact, armed groups continue to dispute the income from drug trafficking and illegal mining in the country that produces the most cocaine worldwide.

The ELN delegates have so far not ruled on this first agreed point.

“Only the changes in the reality of the country will lead us to peace. For this reason, with the participation of society, we hope that governments commit to carrying out transformations, ”wrote the commander of the insurgency, Antonio García, on his Twitter account this Saturday.

In almost six decades, the armed conflict has left more than 9 million victims, most of them displaced.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.