Bogotá, Jul 17 (EFE).- The special representative of the UN Secretary General in Colombia, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, believes that the ceasefire between the government and the National Liberation Army (ELN), which will end on August 3, should be extended and expanded because it has been beneficial for the country, especially for the people in the areas where the guerrilla group operates.
Ruiz Massieu, who is also head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, spoke in an interview with EFE regarding the state of the peace processes in the country and said that the different actors in the armed conflict, and especially the Government, are committed to bringing them to a successful conclusion.
“We have seen many benefits from the ceasefire between the ELN and the Government and it would be beneficial if this ceasefire were extended, prolonged and hopefully also expanded because it has scope to be expanded, to be more beneficial for the communities and for the country in general,” he said.
The Government and the ELN began a new peace negotiation in November 2022 and as part of that process, a 180-day bilateral ceasefire came into effect on August 3, 2023, which was extended for another 180 days that must conclude in two weeks.
“If there is political will, I believe that it can be extended (…) and we hope that efforts will be made to extend it. There are still a few days left and we will see if that is possible,” he added.
Ruiz Massieu stressed that this ceasefire, “the longest between the ELN and any Colombian government,” has been “broadly observed by both parties,” which has allowed trust to be built at the dialogue table “but also with positive effects for the communities and that should not be lost sight of.”
However, he admits that the current state of these negotiations is one of “freezing” due to “differences between the parties,” in particular due to the ELN’s discontent with the Government’s decision to attempt regional dialogue with an alleged faction of that guerrilla group in the department of Nariño, bordering Ecuador.
“However, the table has proven on many occasions its ability to resolve (problems), its ability to move forward. We continue to trust that, through dialogue, both the ELN and the Government can try to resolve their differences and that the process can get back on track,” he added.
Links between two peace processes
According to the diplomat, the dialogues with the ELN interact with the implementation of the peace agreement signed in 2016 because “there is a relationship of virtual interdependence,” since the spaces left by the former FARC “are not filled with the State, they are not filled with civil institutions as expected” but with other armed groups.
“For the full implementation of the 2016 agreement, progress must be made in these dialogues, and for these dialogues to also bear fruit, the implementation of the agreements must advance, so there is already a mutual interdependence” that implies “dealing with the armed groups that are active,” he said.
On March 11, Ruiz Massieu presented his quarterly report on the status of implementation of the agreement with the FARC to the UN Security Council in New York and noted that although the government is committed to this objective, “the complexity of the dynamics of violence affecting Colombia requires a multifaceted response” because there are many challenges.
“There are reasons for concern; in addition to the progress we report, there are always reasons for concern regarding the areas that still require more effort, in some cases coinciding with the areas pointed out by the Government, such as rural reform, for example, which despite the efforts of this administration to prioritize it, is still far from the objectives to be achieved,” he said.
Ruiz Massieu added that there are also “security concerns” because “more than 420 peace signatories have been killed since the agreement was signed, as well as hundreds of social leaders, women leaders, and human rights defenders,” which is why he believes it is necessary to “redouble security measures precisely to eliminate these phenomena.”
The UN diplomat recalled that the implementation of the agreement with the FARC was projected for 15 years, of which seven and a half have passed during which “significant achievements have already been made.”
“The different areas are moving forward, but not always at the same pace (…) for different reasons,” ranging from a lack of resources to the political priorities of the three governments that have been involved in the matter.
He therefore states: “The most important thing for us is that there is political will” to achieve peace, which includes negotiations with two dissident groups of the former FARC.
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2024-07-19 19:25:55
