Through a statement, the ELN guerrilla announced the suspension of the cessation of kidnappings and points out non-compliance by the Government
Photo: AFP – RAUL ARBOLEDA
Three months after announcing the suspension of kidnappings for economic purposes, the ELN assured this Monday that it will resume this crime. The decision responds to the fact that, according to the guerrilla, to date the Government has not complied with the creation of the Multi-donor Fund established in Agreement number 26.
“To date, the Fund has not yet been established, the Government shows little will to advance in this field. Given the above, the ELN terminates its offer of unilateral suspension of economic withholdings,” the document reads.
In response to this decision, the National Government delegation at the dialogue table said that the Fund “was in no way created as compensation for the suspension of the kidnapping or the interruption of other specific action included in the ceasefire.”
Furthermore, the Executive negotiators added: “It has always been made clear to the ELN that trade with human beings has no kind of justification and its elimination is not the subject of any transaction by the Colombian State. We hope that the ELN maintains the commitment made to Colombian society and the international community and puts an end to any form of kidnapping.”
Vera Grabe, the Government’s chief negotiator, assured that she is evaluating what comes after the armed group’s announcement, but criticized her decision to resume the kidnapping. “The ELN has to make a serious decision regarding the peace process,” said Grabe, and added that “it is out of place to make these pressures at this time.”
The kidnapping that unleashed one of the biggest crises in the negotiation
The suspension of the kidnapping was a request from the National Government since November 2023, after the ELN kidnapped Manuel Díaz, father of Liverpool and Colombia national team footballer Luis Díaz.
“The time has come to make decisions that eliminate kidnapping, as we have requested since the beginning of the dialogues. It is unsustainable to argue, from an ethical point of view, that trading with human beings is legal, even under the conditions of an armed conflict,” stated the Government delegation in a letter sent to the guerrilla after Díaz’s release.
Read: After a tough discussion, ELN suspends kidnappings for economic purposes
That retention, which unleashed one of the most critical crises of the process, led to a 13-day meeting in Cuba to overcome a series of tensions. At the close of that meeting, the Government and the ELN extended for six months plus the bilateral ceasefire. In addition, the guerrilla group unilaterally and temporarily suspended economic kidnappings.
Reactivation of the kidnapping comes amid tension between the parties
The ELN’s announcement to reactivate kidnappings for economic purposes comes in the middle of one of the most difficult moments at the negotiating table.
Since February 20, the guerrilla delegation declared the dialogues in crisis due to the Government’s approaches to one of its fronts in Nariño, the Comuneros del Sur.
In context: This is how the division of ELN and the Nariño front was created, which has the dialogues in crisis
In recent weeks, the parties held an extraordinary meeting to seek a solution to the tensions, but no specific agreements were reached. While the ELN insists that any dialogue with the Nariño structure must be suspended, the Government remains committed to continuing with that commitment.
Now, with the announcement of resuming the kidnappings, a new element is added to the crisis between the parties, which leaves the addressing of the underlying issues that the country has requested on this negotiation board increasingly distant.
