By Laura Gamba
BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - The Colombian government and National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels announced that they will hold an emergency meeting Jan. 17 in Venezuela to try to reestablish peace talks.
The announcement comes after “a crisis” was unleashed by the declaration of a cease-fire by President Gustavo Petro at the beginning of 2023 which was denied by the guerrilla group.
"The government delegation is grateful for Venezuela's hospitality to hold an extraordinary meeting with the ELN delegation next week," Ivan Cepeda, a member of the government's negotiating team, said late Friday.
The purpose of the meeting in Caracas is to coordinate the agenda for a second round of talks which will begin in February in Mexico.
Last week, the guerrilla group said negotiation was going through "a crisis" after Petro announced a six-month bilateral cease-fire Dec. 31 with the five largest armed groups operating in Colombia, including the ELN.
"As the government does not comply with the discussion processes of the (negotiating) table and takes unilateral measures and makes them public, these actions put the development of the talks in crisis," the group said in a statement.
Negotiations that were suspended by former President Ivan Duque were resumed by delegations of the government and the ELN last month. Talks with the group began in 2017 in Quito during the government of Juan Manuel Santos.
The talks were interrupted by Duque in January 2019, one day after the group carried out a bombing of a police academy in Bogota that killed 21 officers.
Petro has advocated a policy of "total peace" which aims to bring together various armed groups operating in the country to initiate peace negotiations with all of them to end 60 years of violent conflict.