[News] Colombia and ELN Guerrillas Sign Ceasefire Agreement in Havana

[Anti-Imperialist News]

resumen-english.org
<https://resumen-english.org/2023/06/historic-day-colombia-and-eln-guerrillas-sign-ceasefire-agreement-in-havana/>
Historic Day: Colombia and ELN Guerrillas Sign Ceasefire Agreement in Havana
By Alejandra Garcia and Bill Hackwell on June 9, 2023

Cuba President Dias Canel applauds Colombian President Petro and ELN leader
Antonio Garcia

Today will be remembered as a historic day for Colombia, Cuba, and all of
Latin America. After decades of continuous violence and internal conflict,
the government of President Gustavo Petro and the National Liberation Army
(ELN) agreed to a ceasefire during the closing of the third cycle of peace
talks that had been taking place in Havana, Cuba, since early May.

Colombia is closer to achieving peace than it was at anytime during  the
previous right wing administration of Ivan Duque. All of Latin America has
closely followed this development with hope that this third round of talks,
which concluded in Havana with the presence of the Colombian leader, Cuban
President Miguel Díaz-Canel, and Commander Antonio García, the ELN’s top
leader.

Petro arrived in the Cuban capital on Thursday night to accompany the
formal closing of the third round of dialogue, which encouraged
expectations about the new agreements. The previous rounds of negotiations
took place in Venezuela (November) and Mexico (March).

“I am going to sign a paper that can mean the non-reversible beginning of
an era of peace for this country,” Petro said in Bogota in front of a
massive rally of supporters on Wednesday, shortly after announcing his trip
to Havana.

Why is it a historic day? The government and ELN guerrillas agreed for the
first time in the country’s history to a bilateral ceasefire for the next
six months ahead.

“There will be a national ceasefire with the ELN, and simultaneously we
will have scenarios of territorial incidences. This will have a very
positive impact on the territories. There will be a pedagogical process and
guarantees to reduce the anguish of the Colombian people,” the Peace
Commissioner, Danilo Rueda, told the local Colombian press this week.

“Thanks to the meticulous work of the peace delegation, an atmosphere of
absolute confidence and security is being generated to face the setbacks,”
he added.

The Cuban Foreign Ministry published on its Twitter account that the
government and guerrilla authorities agreed on a ceasefire, the
participation of society in the peace-building process, and new
humanitarian actions and dynamics.

Although the final signing of the agreements was due to take place on
Thursday, it got postponed to Friday in order to finish the final details
of the texts of the Cuba Agreements and their respective protocols,
according to press reports.

The fourth cycle of talks will be held in Venezuela, from August 14 to
September 4. On that occasion, the parties will take stock of the
fulfillment of what they have agreed. Once again, the eyes of Latin America
will be upon these dialogues, as the road to definitive peace has begun as
of today.

During the closing of the recent negotiating session, President Petro took
the opportunity to show his support to Cuba amid the U.S. government’s
opportunistic hostilities towards the island just two days ago. The closure
of this round of negotiations occurred amid a wave of falsehoods from the
United States and transnational corporations around the world, which
insisted that Cuba was set to host an alleged Chinese spy base that would
target the southern coast of the northern country.

Although the White House and the Pentagon denied the accusations, the media
continues to echo this big lie, initially published by the Wall Street
Journal. The timing fits the US playbook of spreading lies about countries
who don’t line up with them at strategic moments.

It should be remembered that earlier negotiations reached a similar
conclusion in 2016 in Cuba between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government. In both cases Cuba has played
the role of neutral host and guarantor of the talks but in 2018 Trump used
that as the main reason for hypocritically putting Cuba on their list of
State Sponsors of Terrorism which the Biden Administration, with no shame,
allows to continue. If we could just stop for a moment and think about
this. How is it that a country that provides a safe space for peace
negotiations be then rewarded by being labeled  as a country that sponsors
terrorism?

“I told President Biden that putting Cuba on the State Sponsor of Terrorism
list was a profound injustice that must be rectified,” President Petro said
and emphasized his gratitude to Cuba for having historically supported
Colombia in its efforts to seek peace.

Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English
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