President Gustavo Petro said Thursday that a ceasefire with multiple of Colombia’s illegal armed groups would be possible in “a matter of days.”
Petro told reporters in New York City that this possible ceasefire with illegal armed groups would be “the beginning of the end of violence in Colombia.”
President Gustavo Petro
The president additionally said that peace talks with guerrilla group ELN that were suspended by former President Ivan Duque could be resumed within days.
According to think tank Indepaz, Peace Commissioner Danilo Rueda received letters from more than 20 illegal armed groups, including organized crime groups, expressing their interest in the government’s “Total Peace” proposal.
Colombia’s government meets with FARC dissidents to talk peace
This peace proposal seeks to negotiate peace with the ELN and the demobilization of other illegal armed groups that are active in Colombia.
In return for their demobilization and disarmament, members of illegal armed groups would be granted judicial benefits, according to a bill proposed to Congress by Interior Minister Alfonso Prada.
According to Petro, the ceasefire would allow the military to move into regions “where it doesn’t come today because it’s the drug trafficking groups that are in control.”
How Colombia’s “Total Peace” plans could disrupt the global drug trade
Significant parts of Colombia have seen a surge in violence during a peace process that was agreed by former President Juan Manuel Santos and the now-defunct guerrilla group FARC in 2016.
Following this peace deal, FARC dissident groups, the ELN, paramilitary organization AGC and dozens of smaller groups moved into the regions previously controlled by the FARC.
Some of the organized crime groups that have reached our to the government control major cocaine export hubs in the Colombia’s port cities.
Petro’s Total Peace plans seek to reduce the violence by resuming peace talks with the ELN and negotiate the demobilization of the other groups.