Guerrilla group EMC asked Colombia’s government to resume a bilateral ceasefire that was suspended in the south of the country.
In a video, guerrilla spokesperson Andrey Avendaño said that the EMC would take responsibility for a massacre of four minors in the southern Putumayo province that triggered the suspension last month.
Petro ends ceasefire with FARC dissidents in south Colombia
We publicly state that after the verification exercise on the causes that led to the breakdown of the ceasefire, we are willing to assume responsibility where appropriate and seek the necessary corrective measures so that these events do not happen again.
EMC spokesperson Andrey Avendaño
Avendaño said that a resumption of the ceasefire would allow the EMC to immediately send representatives to the capital Bogota to help authorities establish the exact culprits of the Putumayo massacre.
The EMC message was sent two days after Prosecutor General Francisco Barbosa announced his office had suspended the arrest warrants of 19 EMC members who were supposed to take part in a joint commission to verify alleged violations of the ceasefire.
The same representatives would also work with the government to secure peace talks.
If this temporary bilateral ceasefire of national character is reestablished, our delegate for the national team would immediately move from the different locations in the national geography to the city of Bogotá to assume the responsibilities assigned in said team and initiate the process of locating the causes that led to the breakdown of the ceasefire and also continue with the process of adjusting protocols together with our dialogue commission and the delegates of the National Government and initiate the discussions and procedures for the installation of the table of talks.
EMC spokesperson Andrey Avendaño
Petro ordered a temporary ceasefire on New Year’s Eve last year as part of the government’s attempt to establish negotiations that would allow peace talks with the dissidents of the now-defunct guerrilla group FARC.
Dissident FARC guerrillas “ready” for peace talks with Colombia’s government
The organization of former FARC commander “Ivan Mordisco” rejected a 2016 peace deal between the FARC and former President Juan Manuel Santos.
The EMC have consistently said they were willing to negotiate their demobilization and disarmament with Petro as part of the government’s “Total Peace” policy, which seeks the demobilization of multiple illegal armed groups.
