Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Thursday that Spain would consider removing the left-wing Colombian guerrilla group known as the National Liberation Army (ELN) from the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations during the Spanish presidency of the Council. from the EU.
At a joint press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Madrid, Petro said Spain will “study the possibility” of removing the ELN from the list to move towards a truce or ceasefire in the six-decade conflict. of Colombia with rebels and criminal gangs.
Sánchez, however, was not fully committed to the measure. “Depending on the progress of this negotiation and dialogue process, we are available to the president and the Colombian government to dialogue with the other European partners and effectively implement their requests,” said Sánchez.
“It is too early to say what Spain’s position will be because it will be very conditioned by what the Colombian government tells us,” he added.
The list establishes sanctions for the groups included therein. The ELN is Colombia’s oldest remaining rebel group, and the talks are the focus of Petro’s efforts to bring “total peace” to Colombia.
He resumed peace talks with the ELN last year, but those talks broke down in March after the organization killed nine Colombian soldiers near the Venezuelan border. Talks resumed in Havana on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Belén Carreño and Emma Pinedo).
Source: CNN Brasil
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