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National Liberation Army (Colombia)
Encyclopedia
National Liberation Army is a revolution
ary, avowed Marxist guerrilla
group that has been operating in several regions of Colombia
since 1964.
Their membership is estimated at around 5,000 guerrillas as of 2010. The ELN is less known than the largest Colombian rebel group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC). Unlike the FARC, which has a strongly orthodox Marxist background, the ELN, initially, was strongly influenced by liberation theology
.
, ostensibly because of its reputation for random kidnapping
s and armed attacks on Colombia's infrastructure. In April 2004, the European Union
added the ELN to its list of terrorist
organizations for those actions and its breaches of humanitarian law.
The ELN has also occasionally operated with the FARC-EP and like FARC it has targeted civilians, according to a February 2005 report by the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights: "During 2004, the FARC-EP and the ELN carried out a series of attacks against the civilian population, including several massacres of civilians and kidnappings by the FARC-EP. There were occasional joint actions by the FARC-EP and the ELN."
In mid-2006, mutual rivalries between local FARC and ELN forces escalated into hostilities in Arauca
, along the border with Venezuela
. According to the BBC
, "the FARC have for some years moved to take over ELN territory near the Venezuelan border, and the smaller rebel army reacted by killing several FARC militants". A statement posted on FARC's homepage accused the ELN of "attacks that we only expected from the enemy".
The ELN's main source of income are businesses and middle class
civilians in its areas of operation. To enforce these "taxes", they frequently take civilians captive to use as leverage. While the ELN uses the terms "war taxes" and "retentions" for these actions, critics insist they constitute "extortion" and "kidnapping".
According to Claudia Calle, spokesperson for País Libre, a Colombian foundation for victims of abductions, the ELN is responsible for the death of 153 hostages between 2000 and 2007. According to País Libre, ELN abducted over 3,000 people between 2000 and 2007 and currently still holds 240 people captive.
On December 7, 18 ELN guerillas surrendered to the Colombian army
in the northwestern province of Chocó.
n-trained Fabio Vásquez Castaño
who along with his brother and other relatives initially held important positions within the organization.
The outspoken Father Camilo Torres Restrepo
(a well-known university professor of egalitarian and eventually Marxist leanings who was highly critical of Colombia's income distribution, named after a revolutionary figure in Colombia's late colonial history), was attracted to the radical new ideas of liberation theology
and joined the group with the intent of putting them into practice inside a revolutionary environment. Torres himself died shortly after joining the ELN during his first combat, but he remained as an important symbol both for the group as a whole and to other like-minded priests who gradually followed his example, most from relatively low positions in the Roman Catholic Church
's structure.
After suffering both internal crisis and military defeat in the early 1970s, it was Father Manuel Pérez
alias "El Cura Pérez" ("Pérez the Priest") from Spain
, who eventually assumed joint-leadership of the group along with current leader Nicolás Rodríguez Bautista, alias "Gabino", and presided over the ELN as one of its most recognized figures from the late 1970s until his death from hepatitis
in 1998.
Manuel Pérez had a major role in giving shape to the ELN's ideology, which is a mixture of Cuba
n revolutionary theory with extreme liberation theology
, calling for a Christian
and communist solution to Colombia's problems of corruption
, poverty
and political exclusion, through the use of guerrilla activity, conventional warfare
and also what has been termed as terrorist action. Observers have commented that, since the death of Manuel Pérez, the movement may have begun to lose focus regarding many of its earlier concerns, such as the necessity of the unity of revolutionary activity with Christian and social action, in order to win over the population to their cause.
The ELN guerrillas were seriously crippled by the Anorí operation carried out by the Colombian military from 1973 to 1974, but managed to reconstitute themselves and escape destruction, in part due to the government of Alfonso López Michelsen
allowing them to escape encirclement, hoping to initiate a peace process with the group. The ELN survived and managed to sustain itself through the extortion of private and foreign oil companies, including several of German
origin and large-scale kidnapping, and, to a lesser degree, with indirect profits from the drug trade
such as the taxation of crops.
One such kidnapping victim was Glen Heggstad, a lone U.S. motorcycle rider touring South America. He was taken hostage while on the road from Bogotá
to Medellín
in November 2001 and held for a month. He has since written a book detailing his ordeal titled Two Wheels Through Terror. His tale was also featured in an episode of "Locked Up Abroad
" in 2007 on the National Geographic Channel
.
The ELN did not participate in the peace process that the administration of Andrés Pastrana Arango
attempted during 1998 to 2002 with the FARC, though it did engage in exploratory talks, kept contacts and discussed the possibility of eventually joining a peace initiative. A government initiative in favor of granting a demilitarized zone in the south of the Bolívar Department
to the ELN was stalled and eventually prevented, due to pressure from some of the location's inhabitants and from the AUC
paramilitaries operating in the region.
Some sectors within the ELN have apparently been hit hard both by the AUC right wing paramilitaries and, more recently, the different military offensives initiated under the Uribe administration and the strengthening of the Colombian Army
, which has been the basis for reductions in estimates of its currently available manpower.
government of Mexico
, lead to another round of exploratory talks.
On July 24, 2004 the ELN apparently abducted Misael Vacca Ramírez, the Roman Catholic Bishop
of Yopal, though their reasons were not clarified. The kidnappers said that Ramírez would be released with a message, but "Francisco Galán", a senior jailed ELN commander who has often acted as an intermediary between the government and the ELN's high command, said he did not know whether the group was responsible. The Bishop was subsequently released by ELN members, in good health, on July 27, after his kidnapping had been condemned by Amnesty International
and Pope John Paul II
, among others. As far as is publicly known, he did not have any message to announce on behalf of the ELN.
Eventually, the ELN questioned Mexico's participation in the talks, arguing that it did not have confidence in the actions of a government which voted against Fidel Castro
's Cuba
during a United Nations
vote. This led the Mexican government to end its participation.
).
Representatives from Norway
, Spain
and Switzerland
joined both parties at the talks as observers.
The talks ended by December 22 and both parties agreed to meet again in January 2006. After a series or preliminary encounters, the next round of talks was later rescheduled for early-mid February. http://www.terra.com.co/actualidad/nacional/11-01-2006/nota271220.html
During the February talks, which moved at a slow pace, the government decided to formally suspend capture orders for "Antonio García" and "Ramiro Vargas", recognizing them as negotiators and, implicitly, as political actors. The move was also joined by the creation of what was termed an alternative and complementary mechanism that could be used to deal with difficult issues and matters that concerned both parties, outside the main negotiating table. A formal negotiation process has yet to begin.
On March 23, the ELN freed a Colombian soldier that it had kidnapped on February 25, delivering him to the International Committee of the Red Cross
, saying that it was a unilateral sign of good will.
The ELN's "Antonio García" is expected to visit Colombia from April 17 to April 28, participating in different meetings with representatives of several political, economic and social sectors. The third round of the exploratory talks would have originally taken place in La Habana, Cuba from May 2 to May 12.
The third round of talks was later moved to take place from April 25 to April 28.
Both parties reiterated their respect for the content and spirit of all previous agreements, and that they would continue working towards the design of a future peace process. The Colombian government and the ELN intend to study documents previously elaborated during the "House of Peace" stage, as well as documents from other participants and observers. Both parties are expected to meet again after Colombia's May 28 presidential elections.
On August 30, 2007 the ELN said that in the statement the dialogues in Havana ended without agreement because of "two different conceptions of peace and methods to get to it".
invited ELN Spokesman Francisco Galán for new talks about peace on April 3, 2008. The two spoke in the presidential palace. After the meeting Galán says the ELN will return to the negotiation table. The ELN released a press note shortly after that saying the rebel group "does not share the views" of Galán and dismissed him as their spokesman. The Marxist rebels did say they will continue to let Galán negotiate between the Colombian government and the rebels.
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
ary, avowed Marxist guerrilla
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
group that has been operating in several regions of Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
since 1964.
Their membership is estimated at around 5,000 guerrillas as of 2010. The ELN is less known than the largest Colombian rebel group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army is a Marxist–Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization based in Colombia which is involved in the ongoing Colombian armed conflict, currently involved in drug dealing and crimes against the civilians..FARC-EP is a peasant army which...
(FARC). Unlike the FARC, which has a strongly orthodox Marxist background, the ELN, initially, was strongly influenced by liberation theology
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...
.
Activities
The U.S. State Department has listed the ELN as a Foreign Terrorist OrganizationU.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations
"Foreign Terrorist Organization" is a designation of non-United States-based organizations declared terrorist by the United States Secretary of State in accordance with section 219 of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act...
, ostensibly because of its reputation for random kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
s and armed attacks on Colombia's infrastructure. In April 2004, the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
added the ELN to its list of terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
organizations for those actions and its breaches of humanitarian law.
The ELN has also occasionally operated with the FARC-EP and like FARC it has targeted civilians, according to a February 2005 report by the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
High Commissioner for Human Rights: "During 2004, the FARC-EP and the ELN carried out a series of attacks against the civilian population, including several massacres of civilians and kidnappings by the FARC-EP. There were occasional joint actions by the FARC-EP and the ELN."
In mid-2006, mutual rivalries between local FARC and ELN forces escalated into hostilities in Arauca
Arauca Department
Arauca is a department of Colombia located in the extreme north of the Orinoco part of Colombia , bordering Venezuela. It is bordered to the south by the Casanare River and the Meta River, which separate it from the departments of Casanare and Vichada. To the west borders with the Boyacá Department...
, along the border with Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. According to the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, "the FARC have for some years moved to take over ELN territory near the Venezuelan border, and the smaller rebel army reacted by killing several FARC militants". A statement posted on FARC's homepage accused the ELN of "attacks that we only expected from the enemy".
The ELN's main source of income are businesses and middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
civilians in its areas of operation. To enforce these "taxes", they frequently take civilians captive to use as leverage. While the ELN uses the terms "war taxes" and "retentions" for these actions, critics insist they constitute "extortion" and "kidnapping".
According to Claudia Calle, spokesperson for País Libre, a Colombian foundation for victims of abductions, the ELN is responsible for the death of 153 hostages between 2000 and 2007. According to País Libre, ELN abducted over 3,000 people between 2000 and 2007 and currently still holds 240 people captive.
On December 7, 18 ELN guerillas surrendered to the Colombian army
Colombian Army
The National Army of Colombia is the land military force of the government of Colombia and the largest service of the Colombian Armed Forces...
in the northwestern province of Chocó.
Background
The group was originally founded by CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n-trained Fabio Vásquez Castaño
Fabio Vásquez Castaño
Fabio Vásquez Castaño was a Colombian rebel and revolutionary who was trained by Fidel Castro regime during the 1960s. He was one of the original founders of the Colombian guerrilla group ELN. The ELN movement began in 1964 when a group of students, inspired by Che Guevara and led by Fabio Vásquez,...
who along with his brother and other relatives initially held important positions within the organization.
The outspoken Father Camilo Torres Restrepo
Camilo Torres Restrepo
Father Camilo Torres Restrepo was a Colombian socialist, Roman Catholic priest, a predecessor of liberation theology and a member of the National Liberation Army guerrilla organisation...
(a well-known university professor of egalitarian and eventually Marxist leanings who was highly critical of Colombia's income distribution, named after a revolutionary figure in Colombia's late colonial history), was attracted to the radical new ideas of liberation theology
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...
and joined the group with the intent of putting them into practice inside a revolutionary environment. Torres himself died shortly after joining the ELN during his first combat, but he remained as an important symbol both for the group as a whole and to other like-minded priests who gradually followed his example, most from relatively low positions in the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
's structure.
After suffering both internal crisis and military defeat in the early 1970s, it was Father Manuel Pérez
Manuel Pérez (guerrilla leader)
Manuel Pérez Martínez , also known as "El Cura Pérez" , was leader of the Colombian National Liberation Army over three decades....
alias "El Cura Pérez" ("Pérez the Priest") from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, who eventually assumed joint-leadership of the group along with current leader Nicolás Rodríguez Bautista, alias "Gabino", and presided over the ELN as one of its most recognized figures from the late 1970s until his death from hepatitis
Hepatitis
Hepatitis is a medical condition defined by the inflammation of the liver and characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. The name is from the Greek hepar , the root being hepat- , meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation"...
in 1998.
Manuel Pérez had a major role in giving shape to the ELN's ideology, which is a mixture of Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n revolutionary theory with extreme liberation theology
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...
, calling for a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
and communist solution to Colombia's problems of corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
, poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
and political exclusion, through the use of guerrilla activity, conventional warfare
Conventional warfare
Conventional warfare is a form of warfare conducted byusing conventional military weapons and battlefield tactics between two or more states in open confrontation. The forces on each side are well-defined, and fight using weapons that primarily target the opposing army...
and also what has been termed as terrorist action. Observers have commented that, since the death of Manuel Pérez, the movement may have begun to lose focus regarding many of its earlier concerns, such as the necessity of the unity of revolutionary activity with Christian and social action, in order to win over the population to their cause.
The ELN guerrillas were seriously crippled by the Anorí operation carried out by the Colombian military from 1973 to 1974, but managed to reconstitute themselves and escape destruction, in part due to the government of Alfonso López Michelsen
Alfonso López Michelsen
Alfonso López Michelsen was a Colombian politician, lawyer and journalist. Lopez Michelsen was President of Colombia from 1974 to 1978. He was the son of Alfonso López Pumarejo, who was also president of Colombia from 1934 to 1938, and once again from 1942 to 1945...
allowing them to escape encirclement, hoping to initiate a peace process with the group. The ELN survived and managed to sustain itself through the extortion of private and foreign oil companies, including several of German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
origin and large-scale kidnapping, and, to a lesser degree, with indirect profits from the drug trade
Illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
such as the taxation of crops.
One such kidnapping victim was Glen Heggstad, a lone U.S. motorcycle rider touring South America. He was taken hostage while on the road from Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
to Medellín
Medellín
Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
in November 2001 and held for a month. He has since written a book detailing his ordeal titled Two Wheels Through Terror. His tale was also featured in an episode of "Locked Up Abroad
Banged Up Abroad
Banged Up Abroad is a British documentary/docudrama television series created by Bart Layton that was produced for Channel Five and that premiered in March 2006...
" in 2007 on the National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries with factual...
.
The ELN did not participate in the peace process that the administration of Andrés Pastrana Arango
Andrés Pastrana Arango
Andrés Pastrana Arango was the President of Colombia from 1998 to 2002, following in the footsteps of his father, Misael Pastrana, who was president from 1970 to 1974.-Early years:...
attempted during 1998 to 2002 with the FARC, though it did engage in exploratory talks, kept contacts and discussed the possibility of eventually joining a peace initiative. A government initiative in favor of granting a demilitarized zone in the south of the Bolívar Department
Bolívar Department
Bolívar is a department of Colombia. It was named after one of the original nine states of the United States of Colombia. It is located to the north of the country, extending from the coast at Cartagena near the mouth of the Magdalena River, then south along the river to a border with Antioquia.Its...
to the ELN was stalled and eventually prevented, due to pressure from some of the location's inhabitants and from the AUC
United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia was created as an umbrella organization of regional far-right...
paramilitaries operating in the region.
Some sectors within the ELN have apparently been hit hard both by the AUC right wing paramilitaries and, more recently, the different military offensives initiated under the Uribe administration and the strengthening of the Colombian Army
Colombian Army
The National Army of Colombia is the land military force of the government of Colombia and the largest service of the Colombian Armed Forces...
, which has been the basis for reductions in estimates of its currently available manpower.
Early contacts
Previous contacts continued during the early days of the Álvaro Uribe Vélez government but eventually were severed, neither party being fully trusting of the other. Only in mid-2004 the ELN and the government began to make a series of moves that, with the announced mediation of the Vicente FoxVicente Fox
Vicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican former politician who served as President of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006 and currently serves as co-President of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of Christian democratic political parties.Fox was elected...
government of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, lead to another round of exploratory talks.
On July 24, 2004 the ELN apparently abducted Misael Vacca Ramírez, the Roman Catholic Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of Yopal, though their reasons were not clarified. The kidnappers said that Ramírez would be released with a message, but "Francisco Galán", a senior jailed ELN commander who has often acted as an intermediary between the government and the ELN's high command, said he did not know whether the group was responsible. The Bishop was subsequently released by ELN members, in good health, on July 27, after his kidnapping had been condemned by Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
and Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
, among others. As far as is publicly known, he did not have any message to announce on behalf of the ELN.
Eventually, the ELN questioned Mexico's participation in the talks, arguing that it did not have confidence in the actions of a government which voted against Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
's Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
during a United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
vote. This led the Mexican government to end its participation.
Exploratory talks in Cuba
In December 2005, the ELN and the Colombian government began a new round of exploratory talks in La Habana, Cuba, with the presence of the ELN's military commander "Antonio García", as well as "Francisco Galán" and "Ramiro Vargas". This was considered the direct result of three months of previous consultations with representatives of different sectors of public society through the figure of a "House of Peace" ("Casa de Paz" in SpanishSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
).
Representatives from Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
joined both parties at the talks as observers.
The talks ended by December 22 and both parties agreed to meet again in January 2006. After a series or preliminary encounters, the next round of talks was later rescheduled for early-mid February. http://www.terra.com.co/actualidad/nacional/11-01-2006/nota271220.html
During the February talks, which moved at a slow pace, the government decided to formally suspend capture orders for "Antonio García" and "Ramiro Vargas", recognizing them as negotiators and, implicitly, as political actors. The move was also joined by the creation of what was termed an alternative and complementary mechanism that could be used to deal with difficult issues and matters that concerned both parties, outside the main negotiating table. A formal negotiation process has yet to begin.
On March 23, the ELN freed a Colombian soldier that it had kidnapped on February 25, delivering him to the International Committee of the Red Cross
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
, saying that it was a unilateral sign of good will.
The ELN's "Antonio García" is expected to visit Colombia from April 17 to April 28, participating in different meetings with representatives of several political, economic and social sectors. The third round of the exploratory talks would have originally taken place in La Habana, Cuba from May 2 to May 12.
The third round of talks was later moved to take place from April 25 to April 28.
Both parties reiterated their respect for the content and spirit of all previous agreements, and that they would continue working towards the design of a future peace process. The Colombian government and the ELN intend to study documents previously elaborated during the "House of Peace" stage, as well as documents from other participants and observers. Both parties are expected to meet again after Colombia's May 28 presidential elections.
On August 30, 2007 the ELN said that in the statement the dialogues in Havana ended without agreement because of "two different conceptions of peace and methods to get to it".
Restored negotiations
Colombian President Álvaro UribeÁlvaro Uribe
Alvaro Uribe Vélez was the 58th President of Colombia, from 2002 to 2010. In August 2010 he was appointed Vice-chairman of the UN panel investigating the Gaza flotilla raid....
invited ELN Spokesman Francisco Galán for new talks about peace on April 3, 2008. The two spoke in the presidential palace. After the meeting Galán says the ELN will return to the negotiation table. The ELN released a press note shortly after that saying the rebel group "does not share the views" of Galán and dismissed him as their spokesman. The Marxist rebels did say they will continue to let Galán negotiate between the Colombian government and the rebels.
Seeking cooperation with the FARC
On May 26, 2008 the ELN wrote a letter to the FARC secretariat, seeking cooperation with Colombia's largest rebel group to overcome "the difficulties we are experiencing in today's Colombian insurgent movement". The letter was published on the ELN website.External links
- ELN Homepage
- ELN - Patrialibre.org
- An ELN profile on BBC news
- Rebel Leader's Daring Escape is Blow to Colombia's Government by Jeremy McDermott, October 2009
- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights - Colombia 2005 Report (Spanish and English)
- Colombia's ELN Rebels Show New Vigour by Jeremy McDermott, BBC News, November 5, 2009