Petro & Garcia to Preside Over Closure of Peace Dialogues Cycle

On Friday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro and the National Liberation Army (ELN) first commander Eliecer "Antonio Garcia" Chamorro will attend the closing of the third cycle of peace dialogues in Havana.

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Garcia will participate in the signing of the agreements that will take place at noon, marking the end of this cycle that started on May 2. Before the signing, Petro is scheduled to meet separately with representatives from the Colombian government and the ELN delegations.

The presence of Petro and Garcia has raised expectations regarding the content of the agreements reached in this cycle, which have focused primarily on humanitarian relief, the participation of civil society in the peace process, and negotiations for a ceasefire.

On Thursday, the Colombian government's High Commissioner for Peace, Ivan Danilo, stated that the agreed ceasefire will be "national" in scope, with differentiated implications in different territories, and will have an initial duration of six months.

The closure of the third cycle was initially planned for Thursday, but both parties requested a 24-hour delay to finalize details in the agreements and their protocols.

This was the second extension, as the cycle was originally set to conclude on May 29, but the parties requested a ten-day delay to achieve results as they were "working positively."

In addition to the complexity of the negotiations, which both parties have kept strictly confidential, the conversations have been affected by the political situation in Colombia. 

Petro's statements led the ELN to request a "pause" of several days. Subsequently, a government crisis involving two presidential advisors clouded the political climate.