Colombia's Main Armed
Rebel Groups Meet in
Venezuela
BOGOTA - Colombia's two
main armed rebel groups
have shared information
about their negotiations
with the Colombian
government during a
meeting in Venezuela, a
spokesman from one of
the groups said Monday.
At a meeting in the
Venezuelan capital of
Caracas, the
Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC)
and the National
Liberation Army (ELN),
the country's first and
second-largest rebel
groups, discussed the
problems that arose
during negotiations with
the government, ELN
spokesman Antonio Garcia
told Colombian radio.
"We are certain that in
the future this will end
with a bigger peace
process," Garcia said.
Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez, who has
been helping mediate a
planned swap of FARC
hostages for FARC
militants held in
government jails, hopes
to do something similar
with the ELN.
Chavez has also offered
to host talks between
the ELN and the
Colombian government,
which have been underway
in Cuba since 2005.
Garcia said that as the
talks proceeded, both
sides would decide on
what Chavez's role could
be.
"We have not
specifically looked at
Chavez's role yet. We
have to evaluate the
progress we have made
and the differences that
remain," he said.
The spokesman said he
planned to meet
Colombia's high
commissioner for peace,
Luis Carlos Restrepo, in
Caracas, adding that the
ELN and the Colombian
government have agreed
to restart talks, which
have stagnated since
August, next month.
Colombia has been locked
in a civil conflict
since the mid-1960s, the
longest in Latin
America, in which
government forces are
fighting leftist
guerrillas. The conflict
kills an average of
3,000 people each year.
The Colombian
government, which
intermittently held
exploratory peace talks
with the ELN in Havana,
Cuba, never holds
negotiations with the
FARC.
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