Colombia: President Santos Describes ELN Peace Talks 'Dilemma'

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos says he faces a dilemma between continuing or ceasing peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN), following fresh attacks on the military and oil infrastructure allegedly executed by the rebel group.

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Five soldiers were killed and a further 10 wounded in the latest bombing of a military convoy traveling by highway through the northeast of Colombia yesterday, Reuters reports.

The attack came hours after the rebel group, consisting of about 2,000 fighters, announced a unilateral five-day truce for the legislative elections scheduled to take place March 11.

"I'm in that dilemma, what do I do with the ELN?" Santos asked during a government meeting in Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast. "I keep asking because today public opinion, in its entirety, is in favor of breaking the dialogue. 

"How many lives does it cost to break the dialogue at this moment? Or how many lives are we going to save if we keep talking while demanding at least minimum coherence?"

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Earlier, Santos had said the ELN's promised ceasefire, which will remain in effect from March 9 to 13, "was the kind of gesture we were asking from them in order to resume the dialogue."

Following Tuesday's attack, however, Interior Minister Guillermo Rivera said that talks would not resume while the ELN continued violent acts.

"The ELN is incoherent... it announced a unilateral ceasefire during the electoral period but attacks mercilessly hours later," Rivera said. 
"While the ELN continues to be incoherent, there will be no conditions for dialogue."

The Colombian government and the ELN began peace negotiations in Ecuador in February last year, in an effort to put an end to the domestic conflict that has raged for more than 50 years, killed at least 220,000, and displaced millions.

Although both parties agreed to a three-month bilateral ceasefire that ended in January, the talks have not brought about any other significant achievements.

Santos suspended the dialogue in January, after an escalation in alleged attacks by the guerrilla group that killed eight police officers and injured 40 more.

The ELN has sought peace with previous governments, but those attempts at reconciliation ultimately failed.