Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel at the ceremony on the 25e anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s first visit to the island nation, at the University of Havana, Cuba, February 8, 2023. ADALBERTO ROQUE / AFP
The Colombian government and the ELN guerrillas will hold the third round of negotiations in Cuba aimed at ending nearly six decades of armed conflict, the parties announced on Wednesday (March 8th) in Mexico City. The date on which this new round will take place, which is a continuation of the talks held in Mexico since February 13, has not been specified.
In a statement announcing the continuation of negotiations on the Caribbean island, the parties thanked “deeplythe Cuban government and people for theirsupportin search of peace in Colombia for more than four decades.
“Substantial progress”
Havana had hosted the negotiations that led in 2016 to the demobilization of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which for years had been the main guerrilla force in the country. “Our government is honored to accept the formal request from the government of President Gustavo Petro and the National Liberation Army (ELN) to continue negotiations in HavanaCuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Twitter.
The parties agreed on the rotation of the host countries of the talks which, according to the press release, made it possible to achieve “substantial progressin Mexico after the inaugural cycle in Venezuela. Although one of the objectives of the dialogue is to lay the groundwork for a ceasefire, the representatives have not yet reported progress in this regard.
Talks between the Colombian government and the ELN began in 2018 in Havana under the government of President Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018), to which his successor, Ivan Duque (2018-2022), ended in 2019 at the end of following a guerrilla attack on a police academy in Bogotá, which left 23 dead.