World News | Colombian government resumes talks with rebels in Cuba

HAVANA, May 3 (AP) — Representatives of the Colombian government and the country’s largest remaining guerrilla group met in Cuba on Tuesday to restart peace talks aimed at reaching a ceasefire and resolving a conflict dating back to the 1960s.

It is the third round of talks with the communist-inspired National Liberation Army, known as ELN, in negotiations relaunched in November shortly after President Gustavo Petro was elected as Colombia’s first leftist president.

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“We encourage you to take advantage of the magic, mysticism and hope that Cuba has always offered,” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said as he welcomed Colombian government officials and the ELN delegation to the capital, Havana.

Chief rebel negotiator Pablo Beltran said the ELN was committed to “transformation” towards peace and called the meeting a “historical coincidence” to reach a bilateral ceasefire.

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The surprise appearance at Tuesday’s meeting was Nicolás Rodríguez Bautista, who led the National Liberation Army from the 1990s until his departure in 2021 for health reasons.

Also in attendance were Colombian senators Iván Cepeda and María José Pizarro, who said the talks sought to “provide peace for a country ravaged by six decades of war.” find real solutions”.

Petro said the peace talks with the National Liberation Army were the cornerstone of his plan to bring “comprehensive peace” to the country of 50 million people, where some rural areas remain plagued by drug gangs and The rebel group is under the control of the Greater Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)