The Colombian guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN), the Central Staff of the extinct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the Second Marquetalia, as well as the armed groups of the Sierra Nevada and Buenaventura have initiated a unilateral truce this Saturday , as confirmed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
“We hope that true peace processes are consolidated,” the president wrote on his Twitter account, whose government seeks to achieve “total peace” through the demobilization of the guerrillas and armed groups that operate in the country.
First, the ELN, which is holding peace negotiations with the Colombian government in Caracas, announced a “unilateral ceasefire” from December 24 to January 2 “to create an atmosphere of peace on these Christmas dates.”
Members of this structure specified in a video that the truce applies only to the military and State Police forces and warned that they reserve the right to defend themselves in case of attack.
At the same time, the office of the country’s High Commissioner for Peace announced this same day that the Central General Staff, which brings together most of the FARC dissident fronts, declared a unilateral ceasefire until January 2.
Another armed group that joined the unilateral truce is the Self-Defense Forces of the Sierra Nevada. “The cry for peace of the communities continues to be heard,” said the office of the High Commissioner for Peace.
Likewise, the Magdalena Medio bloc of that illegal armed structure also decreed a unilateral ceasefire against the military until January 7.
In a video, the members of the FARC dissidents called on other armed groups to “read the historical moment the country is going through and not get stuck like sticks in the wheel, and let the process that President Gustavo advance Petro has called ‘total peace'”.
