Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on Saturday that he has reached the first agreement with the National Liberation Army (ELN) in the framework of the Caracas negotiations, whereby the Embera indigenous people who were displaced by this group will be able to return to their reservations.
«The first point of agreement that we reached with the ELN, in scarcely a week that these dialogues have been going on, is that the return of the populations displaced by this organization from Embera indigenous territories to their resguardos is allowed, with a guarantee of non-repetition and return», declared the president, as reported by ‘El Tiempo’.
However, he pointed out that this is a first pact that must be extended to the rest of the population. «The return must be possible throughout the national territory for any ethnic group of the population and its mixtures,» he said.
As an example, he took the Antioquian town of Murindó, in the northeast of the country, where he stressed that it is necessary to seal an agreement to end hostility against the Afro and black population so that they can live in peace.
The talks between the Government and the ELN began on November 21 in the Venezuelan capital, with the intention of both parties that the table should be constituted as an «instrument of change».
