The Colombian guerrilla of the National Liberation Army freed all the people it held hostage for economic reasons, fulfilling one of the commitments of the current peace negotiation with the government of President Gustavo Petro, the rebel group reported on Friday.
At the end of 2022, Petro reestablished a negotiation with that guerrilla, founded in 1964 by radical Catholic priests, as part of his efforts to achieve total peace and end a six-decade armed conflict that has left more than 450,000 dead.
In six cycles of talks, the parties agreed to a bilateral ceasefire, the creation of a multi-donor fund to finance the process, while the guerrillas committed to suspending economic kidnappings.
“The Central Command directed the release of all persons deprived of liberty for economic reasons, it was reviewed in all ELN structures and the guidance was complied with in its entirety,” the guerrilla group said in a statement.
“In this way we are complying with the unilateral and temporary suspension announced on February 5 in Cuba,” he said.
In mid-December, Defense Minister Iván Velásquez said that 38 people remained kidnapped by the ELN, a group that calls this practice “economic withholdings.” In January the same official updated the figure to 26.
The negotiation has the support of Mexico, Norway, Venezuela, Cuba, Brazil and Chile as guarantor countries.
The ELN, considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, has some 5,850 members, including more than 3,000 combatants, according to security sources.
The negotiations of previous governments with the ELN, accused of financing itself from kidnapping, extortion, drug trafficking and illegal mining, did not advance due to its radical positions, a diffuse chain of command and dissent in its ranks.
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