Colombia: We Are More Than Willing to Extend the Ceasefire

The Colombian Government says it is willing to extend last year's ceasefire agreement with the National Liberation Army (ELN).

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President Juan Manuel Santos made the declaration on Saturday after a meeting with mediators. "We are more than willing to extend the ceasefire with the ELN and renegotiate the conditions of a new cease," the president posted on Twitter.

The ELN remains optimistic about the possibility of renegotiating the Sept. 4 deal.

"The table cannot be interrupted by the fact that the agreement on the ceasefire ends, on the contrary, it should be strengthened by developing the points of the agreed agenda," said the leader of the insurgent group, Nicolás Rodríguez Bautista, Gabino. 

A delegation led by ex-Vice President Gustavo Bell is scheduled to convene in Quito, Ecuador on Monday. The objective of the meeting is to facilitate a smooth transition to longstanding peace between both sides.

The dialogue was initialized in February 2017 but has not provided a suitable solution, so far. According to the data collected by the Resource Center for Conflict Analysis, at least 14 people died since the negotiations started.

The arrangement came into effect in October and is scheduled to expire on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018.