Peace talks between Colombia’s government and ELN guerrillas will resume in Venezuela’s capital Caracas on Monday.
The announcement was made by the government coordinator of the talks, Peace Commissioner Danilo Rueda, on Friday.
The government of President Gustavo Petro has yet to announce the majority of the negotiators in the talks that were suspended by former President Ivan Duque in 2018.
Former guerrilla to lead peace talks with Colombia’s ELN
At the request of Petro, Prosecutor General Francisco Barbosa instructed the police to suspend the international search warrants of the 16 accredited ELN negotiators and group top commander Nicolas Rodriguez.
This instruction only has effect on international arrest warrants issued by Colombian authorities.
The Prosecutor General’s Office also was the first to reveal that the resumed talks will initially be held in Caracas.
The governments of Venezuela, Cuba and Norway all agreed to host the talks for a period of time.
Why Venezuela’s role in Colombia’s peace talks could become a problem
The talks initially began in Ecuador in 2017 after an agreement between the ELN and former President Juan Manuel Santos to negotiate an end to the armed conflict of almost 60 years.
The resumed talks will follow the same agenda as initially agreed by Santos and the guerrilla commanders.
The ELN carried out their first attack against the security forces in 1964 and have been engaged in a guerrilla war against the state ever since.
A 200-year history lesson on the ELN’s war with Colombia’s state
The group is estimated to have more than 3,000 fighters and controls significant territories in the countryside, particularly along the Venezuelan border and the Pacific coast.
The talks began after the much-large guerrilla group FARC agreed to end its decades-long insurgency in 2016.
Petro has also announced negotiations with the ELN and more than 20 other illegal armed groups as part of his administration’s so-called “Total Peace” policy..