Bogotá, March 9. Unidentified individuals who presented themselves as members of the ELN guerrillas were detained for four hours and stole the weapons of the bodyguards of Pastor Alape, one of the leaders of the Comunes party, from the demobilization of the FARC, in the department of Arauca, on the border with Venezuela.
The National Council for the Reincorporation of Commons, led by Alape, denounced on Thursday that members of the protection system for ex-combatants were arrested on Wednesday after 2:00 p.m. local time (7:00 p.m. GMT) on the highway that connects the municipalities of Tame with Arauca, the departmental capital of the main stronghold of the ELN.
The criminals were armed and identified themselves “as members of the National Liberation Army (ELN), which after stripping them of their endowment weapons and detaining them for more than 4 hours, released them”.
“The escort agents were traveling to the Araucanian capital to ensure the protection of the delegate before the CNR who was to attend session 142 of this instance, during which issues of territorial security were addressed to establish actions aimed at guarantee the reincorporation processes,” added the information.
The CNR highlighted its fight for the implementation of the peace agreement that the guerrillas and the government signed in 2016, as well as to move forward “towards the architecture of complete peace, which necessarily involves the conclusion of agreements negotiated with all the armed structures” and is one of the main initiatives of President Gustavo Petro.
“With this in mind, we are working to accompany the national government, led by President Gustavo Petro and Vice President Francia Márquez, to move forward with the changes that the Colombian people have historically demanded,” the information adds.
In his quest for total peace in Colombia, President Gustavo Petro announced on December 31 a six-month ceasefire with the ELN, the central headquarters of the FARC dissidents, the Segunda Marquetalia, the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC) and the paramilitaries of the Sierra Nevada.
However, a few days later, the ELN declared that it would not join this pact because it had been announced without having been agreed at the negotiating table and unilaterally.