The Colombian Prosecutor’s Office announced Thursday that it has suspended the arrest warrants against the persons that the country’s president, Gustavo Petro, has recognized as representatives of the National Liberation Army (ELN) to participate in negotiations with the central government.
«Based on the principle of harmonious collaboration between the public authorities (…), and in attention to the constitutional mandate that says that peace is a right and a duty of mandatory compliance, the Attorney General of the nation, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, issued Resolution 00825 of November 17, 2022, by which he suspends each and every one of the arrest warrants, including those issued for extradition purposes,» reads a statement from the Prosecutor General’s Office.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office explains that it has taken this decision against 17 citizens that Petro has indicated as «authorized representatives of the ELN to participate in the Dialogue Table that the National Government will resume with that organization in Caracas».
In this sense, the Attorney General has indicated that this resolution will be communicated to the judicial authorities and Interpol for its «immediate and strict compliance».
Thus, the Ministry has indicated that the suspension of orders will be effective Nicolás Rodríguez Bautista, Pablo Beltrán, Aureliano Carbonell, Bernardo Téllez, Gustavo Martínez, Consuelo Tapias, Silvana Guerrero, Isabel Torres, Óscar Serrano, Vivian Henao, Ricardo Pérez, Cataleya Jiménez, Eduin Restrepo, Américo Trespalacios, Manuela Márquez, Mauricio Iguarán and Simón Babón.
Petro confirmed this Thursday details about the beginning of peace talks with the guerrilla, which will be held in Caracas as from next Monday, November 21.
The Colombian head of state indicated that Otty Patiño, political scientist and former M-19 guerrilla, will be the chief negotiator of the Government in the dialogues, thus giving the name of the person in charge of leading the government side in peace talks that will presumably resume next week in Caracas, Venezuela.
