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Sánchez offers Spain as the venue for Colombia's peace talks with the ELN

2022-08-24T16:32:22.655Z


The President of Spain made the announcement during an interview on W Radio, before his meeting with Gustavo Petro


The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, Álvaro Leyva (l), and the head of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez (c), upon their arrival in Bogotá on Tuesday. Colombian Foreign Ministry (EFE)

The President of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, said this Wednesday that he is going to offer Gustavo Petro that Spain host the peace talks with the ELN, the last active guerrilla in Colombia.

One of the wishes of the new Colombian president is to achieve what he calls total peace in the country, that is, that no armed group of an ideological nature be in operation, six years after the FARC, the largest subversive army, took refuge in to a peace process and enter politics.

“We offer ourselves to the Colombian Government to help in everything that I believe is common sense to achieve peace and, therefore, if these peace talks can be hosted in Spain, we would be willing to host them,” said Sánchez, in an interview. on W radio with the director of the station, Julio Sánchez Cristo.

Sánchez's offer represents great international support for the negotiation with the ELN, a Marxist-style guerrilla group that is present in some parts of the country.

In principle, Cuba seems to be the ideal venue for this negotiation, since the main leaders of the ELN live there, the Government of that country has made its offer and there is a long history of dialogue between governments and Colombian guerrillas on the island, including the successful negotiation with the extinct FARC.

Holding these meetings in Spain could encounter some legal problems, such as the search and capture or extradition orders that hang over some of the guerrillas.

The advances of the Petro Government in the negotiation with the ELN have been substantial in the first weeks of its mandate.

A delegation, led by Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva, traveled to Cuba to resume talks with the island's government, which welcomed the peace process with the FARC and the previous talks with the guerrillas.

In addition, Petro suspended the arrest warrant against the ELN leaders, as a gesture to be able to start talks.

Here you can listen to the full interview.

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-08-24

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