President Juan Manuel Santos on Tuesday met with a peace talks commission regarding possible negotiations with Colombia’s second largest rebel group ELN.
Three senior politicians Horacio Serpa, Jaime Bernal Cuellar and Alejo Vargas, all met with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos to discuss and analyze potential options, reported CM& on Wednesday.
President Santos had reported only a few weeks ago that the government was seeking to proceed with peace talks with the second of Colombia’s left-wing guerilla movements, the ELN. The government has been negotiating with the larger of the two groups, the FARC, since November 2012.
MORE: Santos seeks peace talks with the ELN
The head of state had previously insisted that negotiations with the rebel group would be impossible if they were to continue their policy of kidnapping. This was in turn refused by the ELN who demanded that talks take place without conditions or restrictions.
MORE: ELN must release all hostages before peace can be discussed: Santos
MORE: ELN refuses to ban kidnapping, demands unconditional peace talks
The ELN recently released Canadian hostage Jernoc Wobert in a move that was seen as a positive step towards peace talks. But the recent kidnapping of a police officer may have scuppered such progress.
MORE: ELN kidnaps police officer in northeast Colombia