President Petro receives this Monday the queen of the carnival of Barranquilla in the Casa de Nariño, the presidential residence, in Bogotá.Presidency
The ELN emits signs of impatience.
The top commander of the guerrilla, Antonio García, has used Twitter to remind that his organization continues to be considered an armed group organized at the level of drug cartels, which puts it on a par with the rest of the armed actors in Colombia that negotiate with the Government of Petro the laying down of arms.
“If the ELN continues to be considered GAO, it means that we are still at the same point that Duque left, that is, we are not taking off as it should be.
It seems that "Total peace" was committed to other businesses... it is what appears, "García wrote on social networks.
It seems that "Total Peace" was committed to other businesses... that's what appears 🧵👇
– Antonio Garcia (@antonioGcdte) February 6, 2023
García's criticisms come a week after the parties sit down to negotiate again in Mexico City.
Until now, the guerrillas had not been so clear when exposing that the talks are not going at the desired speed.
Indeed, this has been lamented by Petro, who is in a hurry to achieve a ceasefire to lower the number of homicides in rural Colombia.
Now it is García himself who considers that the dialogue is at the same point that Duque froze it in January 2019, when the guerrillas committed an attack on a cadet school in Bogotá.
The parties seem to have overflowed the dialogue on the table to turn it into a matter of public discussion, despite the fact that the last time they met in Caracas secrecy and secrecy reigned.
“The sole purpose of the peace process is to make Colombia a more democratic, fair and inclusive country;
that the just aspirations of the majority of the country be heard and taken into account, ”García continued to explain in his messages.
It is not easy to interpret what the guerrilla commander is referring to when he says that it seems that total peace is compromised with other businesses.
He surely understands himself in an internal key, but he implies, that's for sure, that the dialogue has not picked up cruising speed.
The negotiators from one side and the other have just overcome the deepest crisis in the process, the one that originated from a tweet from Petro.
The president took for granted a year-end ceasefire that the guerrillas had not actually agreed to.
The Government and the guerrillas had to hold an extraordinary meeting in Caracas to bring their positions closer together and reach Mexico with a new impulse.
Petro's intention is that, in parallel, all the country's armed organizations submit to justice or negotiate prison benefits.
An agreement with the guerrillas is the rock on which this entire process must be based, the so-called total peace.
For the moment, given the criticism from Petro, who considers that everything should go faster and that the ELN must stick to negotiating promptly so as not to see itself framed in history as just another cartel, and those of the ELN itself, which wants to remove that Whatever the label, it is clear that something concrete, tangible must emerge from this new round of talks, showing the world that the dialogue is on track.
In summary, some signs of hope that the parties are not showing on social networks.
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