ELN and Government to talk

BOGOTA, Colombia - (AP) Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's
government said Tuesday it will begin preliminary peace talks with the
country's second-largest leftist rebel group _ the administration's first
formal talks with the insurgents.
A statement from the office of government peace commissioner Luis
Carlos Restrepo said the agreement was reached late Monday by Restrepo and
Francisco Galan, a leader of the National Liberation Army, or ELN.
Uribe released Galan from prison in September in hopes he could help
launch peace talks.
Restrepo and ELN's military commander, Antonio Garcia, will meet
outside of Colombia, possibly in Norway, Switzerland or Spain, after Dec. 12
to set an itinerary for later peace talks, the statement said.
The ELN, along with the larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, or FARC, has been battling to topple the government and establish
a Marxist-style state since 1964. The FARC has shunned peace negotiations.
Colombia's government last held peace talks with the ELN in 2002
under President Andres Pastrana. Those talks failed when Pastrana pulled out
of the negotiations, saying the ELN was not interested in peace.
Daniel Garcia-Pena, a former peace commissioner who is helping in
the current efforts at peace talks, said he was cautiously optimistic.
"We can't build up false expectations. This is only a first meeting
to agree on establishing an itinerary toward a negotiation," he said Monday
night.
More than 3,000 people are killed every year in Colombia's
three-sided conflict involving government troops, leftist rebels and
right-wing paramilitary fighters.
Uribe has already brokered a peace deal with the main right-wing
paramilitary group, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC. More
than half of that group's 20,000 fighters have demobilized and the rest are
expected to disarm in the coming months.
Uribe is running for re-election next year and a peace deal with the
ELN would bolster his already high approval rating and virtually ensure
victory in the election.
Unlike the FARC and the AUC, the ELN is believed to have largely
stayed out of the lucrative illicit drugs trade, leaving it short of funds.
Officials and analysts have said the ELN is reeling from a 3-year-old
military offensive ordered by Uribe and that mass desertions have reduced
its ranks to fewer than 3,500 fighters.
The government has insisted that the ELN declare a cease-fire and
stop kidnapping as a precondition for talks, but the ELN has consistently
rejected this. It was not clear whether this stalemate was resolved as part
of the agreement for the exploratory talks.
Galan was serving a 30-year sentence for rebellion, terrorism and
kidnapping and had been in prison for 13 years when he was released on what
officials termed a three-month furlough.

By Mr. Hollywood on Dec 6, 2005, 08:17 in Politics & the war.

juancegomez says on Dec 6, 2005, 10:39:

The news in itself is positive The thing is, the ELN has been "talking", on and off, since the practically the later part of the Ernesto Samper administration (1990-1994).

Curiously enough, they skipped most of the 1980's round of talks, and were considered to be at their most radical state at the time. Guess time has a way of changing things in funny ways.

The Colombian press reports that Cuba and Venezuela are also possible locations for the talks.

EDIT: Cuba has been confirmed as the site.

Btw, there was a fairly good analysis of the ELN's current behavior and track record in SEMANA recently:

http://semana.terra.com.co/opencms/opencms/Semana/articulo.html?id=91468

Also, Pastrana's recent book, "La palabra bajo fuego", gives good background on the talks that he held during his term and their particular difficulties.

http://elpais-cali.terra.com.co/historico/sep062005/NAL/A3061.html

http://www.terra.com/noticias/articulo/html/act217740.htm

Sam Salmon says on Dec 7, 2005, 20:49:

Seeing as how much weaker ELN are now than formerly they have reason to try and salvage something.
Personally I'd like to see all their leaders shot but that's me.

' a la orden!'

' a la orden!'

landcruiser77 says on Jan 5, 2006, 11:05:

ELN MEANS E=estupidity L=lame N=native
fuc..k bastards

£æ