Las delegations of the Government of Colombia and the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) for the peace talks they agreed this Friday to invite the United States and four European countries to accompany the negotiation process, and Chile, Brazil and Mexico as guarantors.
In a statement that was read by representatives of Venezuela and Norway, guarantor countries for the talks, the parties stated their intention to invite Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Spain to “consider their participation as companions.”
They also agreed to “advance diplomatic actions with the Government of the United States to find out their willingness to participate in this process through a special envoy to the dialogue table.”
The dialogue table was installed last Monday in Caracas, Venezuela, and marks a new beginning in the frustrated talks frozen for four years between that guerrilla and the government, now headed by President Gustavo Petro.
Regarding the invitation to the European countries, the parties also hope to “know their willingness to reactivate the Group of Accompaniment, Support and Cooperation Countries (GPAAC)”.
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In addition, the guerrillas and the Petro government agreed to resume a point of the 2016 negotiations on “humanitarian actions and dynamics,” for which, the statement said, “humanitarian relief processes will be carried out in the short term.”
“For this, a Mesa de Diálogos mechanism will be formed that will be accompanied by the Verification Mission of the United Nations and the Church,” the letter maintains, without explaining what types of aid they plan to implement or in which areas.
Lastly, the formation of a joint communication team was announced as one of the three agreements reached “to report in an objective, timely, clear and transparent manner on the development and progress of the dialogue process.”
The negotiations took place this week “in an atmosphere of trust and optimism” and with the accompaniment of a representative of the United Nations and the Episcopal Conference of Colombia.
The parts ratified Venezuela, Cuba and Norway as guarantors of the process, that it will keep Caracas as its headquarters until mid-December, according to what the negotiators announced this week.
The negotiating team representing the government includes Senator Iván Cepeda, Senator María José Pizarro, the founder of the extinct M-19 guerrilla, Otty Patiño Hormaza, and Alberto Castilla; while at the table are seated by the ELN Aurelio Carbonell, Pablo Beltrán and Nicolás Rodríguez Bautista.
