The commander of one of Colombia’s largest guerrilla organizations, the EMC, urged the government and rival group ELN to agree to a ceasefire.
In a video, EMC commander “Ivan Mordisco” called on the government to reinstate a ceasefire in southwest Colombia.
The guerrilla chief also called on the ELN to negotiate a ceasefire in the northwestern Arauca province where the rival groups have been fighting since 2021.
Mordisco made the call amid rumors about internal divisions in the EMC.
The commanders from Arauca and the southwestern Cauca province failed to show up at an emergency meeting with government representatives on Friday.
Instead, alleged EMC guerrillas carried out multiple attacks on army and police in the region where President Gustavo Petro suspended a ceasefire.
The commanders’ failure to show up at the meeting with the government fueled concerns about possible opposition to peace talks from inside the EMC.
Mordisco did not directly address these concerns, and instead stressed the need for ceasefires to continue the peace talks with the government that began in October last year.
The EMC is the largest of two guerrilla organizations that were formed by former commanders of the now-defunct guerrilla group FARC, which demobilized and disarmed in 2017.
Since its formation in 2016, Mordisco’s guerrilla organization has taken control over much of the territories that were abandoned by the FARC in southern Colombia.
The EMC also exercises significant control over Colombia’s border with Venezuela and several smaller regions in the north of the country.
Petro has been trying to negotiate an end to the EMC’s opposition to the ongoing peace process with the FARC since taking office in August of 2022.
These efforts have been hampered by ongoing violence between the EMC and rival armed groups, particularly the ELN and paramilitary organization AGC.