COLOMBIA:
Possible ELN Ceasefire,
11 FARC Hostages Killed
By Patricia Grogg*
HAVANA, (IPS) - While
there appears to be
progress in ongoing
talks here towards a
ceasefire between the
Colombian government and
the insurgent National
Liberation Army (ELN),
it was confirmed
Thursday that 11
lawmakers taken hostage
in 2002 by Colombia's
largest guerrilla group,
the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC),
had recently been
killed.
Eleven of the 12
legislative deputies of
the western department
of Valle del Cauca who
the FARC had held for
more than five years
were killed Jun. 18
during an attack on
their camp "by an
unidentified military
group", according to the
captors.
The FARC Western Joint
Command had issued a
communiqué dated Jun. 23
that the hostages had
been killed on Jun. 18.
It was not made public
until Thursday, when it
appeared on the Anncol
web site, based in
Sweden.
Still held hostage by
the FARC are former
presidential candidate
Ingrid Betancourt and
her running mate Clara
Rojas, as well as eight
other politicians,
dozens of members of the
military and police, and
three U.S. military aid
contractors.
President Álvaro Uribe
and the Colombian Armed
Forces Command denied
any government
involvement in such an
attack or that it had
been a botched attempt
at a military rescue.
There were rumours
initially that rightwing
paramilitaries were
responsible, but those
groups usually work in
tandem with the
government forces.
While the blame game is
likely to continue in
regards to the deaths in
Colombia, talks in the
Cuban capital between
the Colombian government
and the smaller of
Colombia's two main
insurgent movements, the
ELN, may lead to an
agreement in July that
would include a
temporary cessation of
hostilities and the
release of hostages.
Guerrilla commander
Pablo Beltrán confirmed
at a press conference
Wednesday that the ELN
would also promise not
to kidnap people for the
purpose of extorting
money during the
six-month truce, and
said that his delegation
had laid this commitment
on the table from the
outset of the talks.
He denied that the
number of kidnap victims
held by the ELN was as
high as the Colombian
authorities, the media
or the Red Cross claim,
and said they were only
a few dozen.
Beltrán is representing
the ELN at talks in
Havana with Luis Carlos
Restrepo, the Uribe
administration's high
commissioner for peace.
This is the sixth round
of the exploratory talks
that have taken place in
the Cuban capital since
December 2005.
The current round began
two months ago. Unlike
the first three or four
series of meetings, when
both delegations held
frequent press
conferences, these talks
have been held
discreetly, in a shroud
of silence.
The FARC and ELN both
emerged in 1964, but
have different origins
and ideologies. FARC is
a rural guerrilla
movement, rooted in the
violent civil war of
1946, while the ELN was
inspired by the Cuban
Revolution and the
principles of Liberation
Theology.
Also participating in
Colombia's civil war are
ultra-rightwing
paramilitary militias,
now partially
demobilised following
the signing of a secret
agreement with the Uribe
administration.
IPS asked Beltrán about
clashes between FARC and
the ELN, and their
possible impact on a
future ceasefire
agreement with the
government. Beltrán
replied that those
difficulties and
differences still exist.
"Efforts are being made
to mitigate the problems
between the two
guerrilla movements.
Unfortunately, some
leaders think that
dialogue between
revolutionaries is a
less urgent matter," and
this point of view
allows "conditions to
persist that could lead
to new conflicts," he
said.
Beltrán added that if
the ELN agrees to a
truce, it will take
every precaution to
ensure its security and
defence, because it
could be attacked by any
side as in Colombia's
history ceasefires have
often been covertly
broken. One side puts on
another's armbands and
attacks whomever they
wish, he said.
"Naturally, we don't
expect FARC to attack
us, but we do expect
attacks from parties
under the guise of FARC.
That's why we are
preparing ourselves,
keeping our guard up and
raising it still higher,
in order to avoid
involving ourselves in
offensive actions, and
our defence arrangements
will be stricter than
they are today," the
guerrilla leader said.
He added that the ELN's
willingness to implement
a ceasefire was "a
gesture for peace in
Colombia," which the
government delegation
had not needed to wrest
from them by force.
Expanding on this point,
which is perhaps one of
the most complex issues
at these talks, Beltrán
said that in the last
few weeks the debate had
been about what the
government could offer
that would match the
ELN's proposal. "That's
where the problems
arise: sometimes the
discussions degenerate
into bargaining
sessions," he said.
"Both sides want a
ceasefire that will put
a stop to offensive
operations by both
forces," and also "stop
all attacks on the
civilian population and
infrastructure," he
said.
However, Beltrán said
that the government
should not expect any
advantage from the
ceasefire, and nor does
the ELN, that is to say,
the army should not have
to confine itself to
barracks nor the ELN
guerrillas to their
fixed camps.
"There is willingness to
fulfil the promise that
each side will abstain
from attacking the
other," he emphasised,
and added that if
problems arise, they
will be looked upon as
accidental, not
deliberate violations of
the truce.
According to Beltrán,
although agreements on
some points have led to
progress in the last two
months, there are still
some major obstacles to
reaching an
understanding.
"We still have two
different road maps. The
ELN believes that a
political solution to
armed conflict in
Colombia must involve
profound structural
transformations that are
social, economic and
political," whereas the
government is only
interested in getting
rid of the guerrillas.
"We're talking two
different languages, or
we're tuned to two
different frequencies,"
he said.
Despite this
less-than-ideal climate
for the negotiations,
"pragmatic" efforts are
being made to reach an
initial agreement aimed
at humanitarian relief,
a ceasefire, and the
opportunity for more
civilian social
participation. "We have
made progress, but we
are not satisfied yet,"
he said.
Beltrán also said that
most political prisoners
in Colombia are
activists who are not
involved in armed
struggle, and the ELN is
demanding a pardon or an
amnesty for them,
"because the idea is to
provide humanitarian
relief and create
conditions for a
participative society,"
he said.
According to Colombian
law, amnesties can only
be granted by Congress,
whereas pardons are a
presidential
prerogative, "which is
why, in Colombia,
pardons are the formula
used at present,"
Beltrán said.
There are guerrillas
among those in jail, and
if an agreement were
reached under which they
were pardoned, "it would
be no bad thing, from
our point of view," he
said.
The ELN and government
delegations are working
separately at the
moment, and Beltrán did
not mention a date when
they might resume talks.
(*With reporting by
Constanza Vieira from
Bogotá.)
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