ELN would accept scrutiny for links to drug trafficking

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Colombia’s guerrilla National Liberation Army is ready to submit to the review of an international commission to determine whether or not it is involved in drug trafficking in order to advance the process of peace with the government of President Gustavo Petro. .

This was stated in an interview with the Associated Press by Aureliano Carbonell, a member of the delegation of the armed group which is taking part in the second round of talks which will end on Friday in Mexico and, according to what he said, will resume in April at a location yet to be confirmed.

Carbonell denied any links to drug trafficking and said the group was ready to accept the proposal presented three years ago to the Colombian and American governments for a commission “to examine whether or not we are involved in the business”. .

“We are still against that,” he said.

The ELN, born in 1964 and inspired by the Cuban revolution, has spoken with the Colombian government on several occasions since the 1970s.

The ongoing process, which began in 2017, was frozen in 2019 after a guerrilla war against a police academy that left 22 dead and was only resumed last November for the first time with a militant left-wing president in his youth in the extinct M-19 guerrillas.

One of the objectives of the current round of talks was to agree on a roadmap to move forward, among other things, towards a national ceasefire with the active participation of civil society, although it is still unclear how to integrate it.

The government hopes this will mean not only a reduction in armed clashes but also in “illegal activities that cause harm and violence”, said the head of the government delegation, José Otty Patiño.

In 2006, the ELN banned its troops from financing themselves with drug trafficking but continued to be involved in illegal activities such as drug trafficking and gold mining, either collecting taxes, or by controlling the whole company, according to the Truth Commission created after the signing of the 2016 peace agreement with the country’s main guerrilla, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The United States and the European Union still have the ELN on the list of terrorist organizations.

For Carlos Beristain, who was a member of the Truth Commission, this approach would be important if it is linked to the guarantee of the security conditions of the communities and to an international framework and that of the Catholic Church which accompanies the process.

The commissioner added that another fundamental point is to advance a “humanitarian agreement” so that “people can also have an experience of peace” during the negotiations.

The parties agree and in December they agreed to respond to certain emergencies but, according to Carbonell, some of these “humanitarian dynamics” are still pending, such as prison allowances for certain ELN detainees or the guarantee health care or food in some communities.

For this reason, he insisted on accelerating the creation of humanitarian corridors under international supervision that allow the supply of the population and that they can move in safe conditions.

The ELN, Carbonell said, is ready to do its part and respect the integrity of these corridors, but recalled that in much of the territories, different armed groups and drug gangs operate in conflict with each other. others.

Some of them have agreed to a ceasefire with the government but not the guerrillas who, according to Carbonell, are negotiating with the executive but “if they attack you, you cannot sit idly by.”

The ELN has questioned Petro’s “total peace” strategy because it does not want to be on the same level as other armed actors like the Clan del Golfo, considered Colombia’s most dangerous cartel. Petro has made it clear that he will not negotiate politically with the drug traffickers, but they will have to submit to justice.

Colombia’s six decades of internal conflict have left nearly half a million people murdered, more than 120,000 missing and 7.7 million displaced, according to the Truth Commission report released last year.

The dialogue process is viewed with some optimism.

The Petro government has chosen to include in its negotiating delegation a man close to the influential former president Álvaro Uribe. “To move forward in a process, the participation of many is needed, and especially of the sectors that have traditionally governed the country,” Carbonell said.

The last active guerrillas in Colombia also want to learn from the mistakes of the peace process with the FARC to ensure that what is agreed is respected, which has not happened, according to Carbonell.

Petro has chosen to fast-track one of the most overdue pacts, rural reform, but problems persist with more than 13,000 ex-combatants being reintegrated and persecuted by violence. At least 355 people have been killed, according to a recent United Nations report.

“You can’t sign papers and that’s it, all the guns have been handed over…no, that can’t be the case anymore, we are going into a process where we comply” with each party and with the participation of the society. “The problem in Colombia is not to resolve that the guerrilla forces disappear so that everything remains the same”.

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AP reporter Astrid Suárez contributed to this story from Bogotá.