A historic photo for Colombia in the run-up to negotiations with the ELN

The four of them were placed in the best seats of the Colombian air force plane, next to the pilot's cabin.

With their backs to the dashboard were Danilo Rueda, the peace commissioner, and José Félix Lafaurie, the representative of the ranchers and landowners, a right-wing man whom the president has included by surprise.

In front of them, the ex-guerrilla Otty Patiño and Iván Cepeda, a politician of the highest confidence of Gustavo Petro.

They were on their way to Caracas, where negotiations begin tomorrow with the ELN, the last active guerrilla on the continent.

They had a relaxed talk in which Lafaurie carried the weight, who showed great knowledge about the Venezuelan economy.

The four heavyweights in the negotiation, at one point, posed for a historic photo to which EL PAÍS has had exclusive access.

The portrait draws attention to see sitting on such opposite sides of the Colombian ideological arc.

Lafaurie, just six months ago, branded Petro a Nazi and considered him a danger to the nation.

Right now he is on his side and has a relevant role in one of the most important goals for the president, that of finding peace with an armed group that has been up in arms for more than 50 years.

The rancher shared a plane this Sunday with Patiño, head of government negotiators, a former M-19 guerrilla, where Petro was also a member.

Lafaurie represents the complete opposite, that of the large landowners who are behind the rise of paramilitaries.

That conflict has watered the land of this country with blood.

Now together they seem to seek peace.

When it made landfall, the Colombian delegation headed to the Humboldt Hotel, a jewel designed by the architect Tomás José Sanabria, who was commissioned by the Venezuelan dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez.

Hugo Chávez recovered this building above the clouds, on top of a hill, which is reached by cable car.

Nicolás Maduro, his successor, finished his remodeling and now serves as a luxury establishment.

Design magazines from all over the world have reported on the place in recent years.

Negotiations will be held there, for at least 20 days.

The intention is that the headquarters continue to rotate, as is written in the old deal that the guerrillas made with former president Juan Manuel Santos.

At the airport, both delegations, the government and the ELN, met on the runway.

Also the delegates of the mediating countries.

They all went to dinner at the Humboldt.

The first conversations have already begun there.

Both teams are going a bit blind.

There is still no guide to what is going to be discussed, all of that is yet to be finalized.

These are the first approaches of a relationship that has to drift towards a climate of trust.

There are misgivings on both sides, everything is said.

The government knows that the ELN leaders, very theoretical and idealistic, are very tough negotiators.

And the guerrillas, by default, distrust the word of politicians, after the State has not always fulfilled its part when there have been negotiation processes.

The matter begins with a historical photo that will be true if an agreement is reached and Petro and his people end with an anachronism inherited from the 20th century, that of the armed groups that wanted to come to power by force.

That's where Petro comes from, that's where Patiño comes from.

Now they want to be the ones to put an end to it.

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