Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has welcomed the start of peace talks between the Colombian Government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) on Monday, «with hopes» that the two parties can take advantage of the opportunity «to achieve the peace that the Colombian people deserve».
Cuba, which has already hosted previous attempts at dialogue with Colombian guerrillas, is once again participating as «guarantor» in the contacts which will take place on this occasion in Venezuela. Spain and Chile are participating as «accompaniers» of the process.
Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, set himself the objective of resuming contacts with the ELN after coming to power and his delegation includes, among other envoys, the High Commissioner for Peace, Danilo Rueda, and former guerrillas Iván Cepeda and Otty Patiño, who arrived in Caracas on Sunday, according to Caracol Radio.
Petro thus resumes talks that have been suspended for almost four years, since the period in power of former president Juan Manuel Santos, who won the Nobel Peace Prize after the historic agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
