Cuba accepts the request of Colombia and the ELN and will be the place of dialogue

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba announced Wednesday that it has agreed to host the next round of talks between the Colombian government and that country’s National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels aimed at finalizing a peace deal .

The island “will make every effort” for the agreement between the parties and maintains “its will to continue to vouch” as well as to allow the third round of the dialogue to take place on the island, said the Cuban ministry. Foreign Affairs in a statement.

Currently, the delegation representing President Gustavo Petro and guerrilla leaders are holding their second round of the new stage of talks in Mexico, where they will conclude on Friday.

Although the official Cuban statement did not specify the date of the meeting of the parties in its territory, the Colombian national media indicated that it would take place during Holy Week, the first days of April.

As guarantor countries, Cuba and Norway are currently participating in this second cycle in Mexico after the first carried out between November and December in Venezuela.

Cuba has been the scene of successful four-year peace talks between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the government of Juan Manuel Santos. The agreement that transformed the armed organization into a political party was signed in 2016.

Shortly after, in 2017, a negotiation began with the ELN in Ecuador, but a year later they moved to Havana due to changes in the political sign of this nation, which stopped providing support .

However, in 2018 the talks were suspended after the guerrilla group attacked a police station and Colombia’s new president Iván Duque expressed reluctance to speak with the rebels.

The government delegates withdrew, but the ELN commanders remained in Cuba, which in turn refused to hand them over as demanded by Duque, alleging that the protocols established the host country’s guarantee to respect the negotiators if the talks were suspended.

Havana’s refusal cost it an increase in sanctions from the United States – allies of Duque and a longtime adversary of the island – which used this reason to re-list Cuba on a list of sponsors of terrorism drawn up by Washington and where she still is, despite Petro’s request that he be excluded.