The Colombian Government has decided to “suspend” the bilateral ceasefire with the National Liberation Army (ELN), after the guerrillas warned on Tuesday that there was no consensus to put a pause on the armed activities of both parties.
Colombian President, Gustavo Petrohas convened an emergency meeting early this Wednesday to examine what happened and, at the end of this meeting, the Minister of the Interior, alfonso pradahas confirmed to the media that the decree published just a few hours earlier on the ceasefire “does not produce any legal effect“.
Accompanied by the Defense Minister, Ivan Velasquezand the High Commissioner for Peace, Danilo Rueda, Prada has explained that the Armed Forces “retain full powers” in the offensive against the guerrillas, which opens the door to new measures until there is some kind of agreement.
The government wantsgive the necessary time” to agree on the protocols that should govern this possible truce at the dialogue table with the ELN. Once these measures are “fully agreed upon”, the ceasefire decree will come into force, explained the minister.
