Colombian President Gustavo Petro says he has agreed a ceasefire with several rebel groups in the Latin American country.
The agreement with ELN, Segunda Marquetalia, Estado Mayor Central, Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia and the Autodefensas de la Sierra Nevada will apply from the beginning of the new year until the end of June, Petro announced on Twitter at the end of the year. Depending on the progress of the negotiations, the ceasefire could be extended. "Total peace will come true," wrote Petro.
In an additional tweet, he described the agreement as a courageous act. "The bilateral ceasefire obliges the armed organizations and the state to comply with it." Petro announced a national and international mechanism to review the process.
Peace talks since late November
At the end of November, Colombia's government resumed peace talks with the guerrilla organization ELN after a break of almost four years. A week ago, according to the newspaper "El Tiempo", other groups agreed to a ceasefire, and last Tuesday the ELN released a kidnapped naval officer.
The armed groups with which the government has now agreed a ceasefire are very different organizations. The ELN is a left-wing rebel group, Segunda Marquetalia and Estado Mayor Central are splinter groups of the former guerrilla organization Farc, and the Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia and the Autodefensas de la Sierra Nevada are criminal gangs recruited from former members of the right-wing paramilitaries.
It may be crucial for the success of the ceasefire and the peace talks that the fighters of the armed groups are offered real alternatives. The gangs earn good money with racketeering, illegal mining, kidnapping and drug trafficking. Both after the demobilization of the right-wing paramilitaries and after the peace agreement with the FARC rebels, many former members went underground or joined criminal gangs because they were unable to return to civilian life and start a new career.
52 years of civil war
For 52 years, Colombia suffered from a civil war between left-wing rebels, right-wing paramilitaries and the military. 220,000 people lost their lives and millions were displaced. Although the security situation has improved after the 2016 peace agreement between the government and the largest rebel group FARC, parts of the South American country are still controlled by illegal groups. Again and again, trade unionists, social activists and environmentalists are deliberately killed.
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