Colombia: negotiations between the government and the ELN will resume on February 13

The Colombian government and the rebels of the National Liberation Army (ELN) will discuss a possible ceasefire during a second round of negotiations which will begin on February 13 in Mexico, the two parties announced on Saturday at Caracas.

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", adds the text.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on December 31 a bilateral ceasefire agreement until June 30 with the ELN, two FARC splinter groups, the Clan del Golfo drug cartel and the Autodefensas de la Sierra Nevada. (Sierra Nevada Self-Defense Forces), a paramilitary group.

Read alsoColombia: nearly 10,000 civilians forcibly confined by ELN rebels

The ELN, established in 20% of the country's municipalities and in the border regions with Venezuela and Ecuador, ended a first phase of talks in Caracas on December 12 without agreeing a ceasefire.

The ELN has only accepted a bilateral ceasefire once, in 2017, when it was engaged in a peace process with the government of Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018).

This unprecedented truce was broken after 100 days due to rebel sabotage of oil pipelines.