Colombia Govt Willing to Resume Peace Talks with ELN

Colombia's Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas said Monday that the government was willing to resume peace negotiations with the National Army of Liberation if the rebels were willing to do the same.

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The announcement followed the two-day visit of UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres, who encouraged both sides to renew the dialogue in a bid to end a 52-year-long struggle between the government and former guerrilla fighters.

“I want to say in the name of the government that if the ELN is willing to respond positively to that call, the government will do the same,” said Villegas during a speech at the presidential palace.

He also reported that Colombian security forces detained 22 ELN members over the past week, as a result of the suspension of the bilateral ceasefire.

Peace talks were suspended by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos after his government claimed that members of the ELN had carried out several attacks against Colombian security forces and infrastructures shortly after the ceasefire agreement between the rebel movement and the government expired on Jan. 9.

The lead negotiator for the ELN, Israel Ramírez, said during a press conference in Quito Wednesday that "the incidents [...] happened in the midst of a complex situation of conflict," adding "the course of conversations to reach a political solution to the conflict should not be altered."

Many nations are urging the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Colombian government to resume the fifth circle of peace talks in Quito, Ecuador as Colombia braces for elections in May which would bring a new president that might not be as inclined to seek peace.

The European Union also joined the request to resume peace talks.