The Colombian government and the ELN guerrilla group officially began peace negotiations on Monday in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, where delegates from Cuba and Norway, the guarantor countries, attended.
The leader of the ELN, Pablo Beltrán, has assured that «this negotiating table must be an instrument of change». «We do not expect to fail in this expectation of change», he said.
«We aim for this table to be an instrument of change, we hope not to fail that expectation of change (…) Changes are not automatic, but we all must have a commitment to change, in that sense we are present in Venezuela with an ideal: we Colombians cannot see ourselves as enemies», said Beltrán, after the reading of a joint communiqué with the Executive.
«The work we have is of reconciliation, of finding common points again, of building a nation with equity and peace, that is the bet we have. That is what we came to this table for. We hope to have an interlocutor in the same sense with the government delegation», he added, as reported by the Colombian newspaper ‘Semana’.
The member of the guerrilla has qualified that these negotiations are not «a barter of favors», while he explained that the «problem is Colombia», pointing out the high rates of poverty.
In addition, Beltran said he expects Washington to respect his country’s desire for peace. «The United States is not here (in Venezuela), but we expect it to follow up on this (the dialogue table), we expect it to have a proactive attitude», he said.
Meanwhile, the High Commissioner for Peace in the country, Danilo Rueda, has indicated that there are signs of «harmony with the ELN peace delegation». «Our changes, those of the government’s peace delegation, are real,» he said.
«We cannot be lesser in the face of the responsibility we have for present and future generations, for the memory of those who came before us,» he said, stressing the historic nature of the event.
The head of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, has celebrated the resumption of negotiations through a message on his Twitter profile.
«I reiterate the support of the Secretary General, António Guterres, to this process and I call on the parties and Colombian society to take advantage of this historic opportunity and deepen peace,» he said.
For his part, the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, considered that the beginning of the dialogue between the Executive and the guerrillas is «a great message of hope, faith and the dream of our Latin America and the Caribbean, to live in a world of peace and stability»: «The time for peace has come», he assured.
