One of the war fronts of the National Liberation Army (ELN) has communicated that it is not convinced by the “neoliberal” peace process being negotiated with the Colombian government.
It considers that the state model does not change and blames Congress for overturning all social reforms.
ELN’s Omar Gómez western war front has issued a harsh statement against the country’s authorities, criticizing the peace project of the president, Gustavo Petro.
It says it has the sole goal of disarming them without considering why they once decided to take the path of armed struggle.
At the same time, they criticized Petro’s alliances with the traditional political parties, preventing the reforms his campaign promised.
According to the ELN, these old political groups are preventing the fundamental transformations Colombia needs.
“A political reform that has been sunk by the Government’s forces, the health and pension reforms, denaturalized in favor of the big monopolies, not to mention basic issues such as employment, education, housing, which are of interest to the vast majority of the Colombian people”, the guerrilla lists in the communiqué.
However, they do not only target the traditional parties.
They also accuse the Historical Pact, the coalition with which Petro won the elections, of incurring in similar practices.
They pointed directly to the vice-president, Francia Marquez, and the Ministry of Equality for not working for the “impoverished of the country”.
They have accused the Army of collusion with the paramilitaries, especially the Clan del Golfo, in the region of Chocó, where the ELN disputes territorial control with this armed group, affirming that up to five battalions profit from the illegal business of these structures, operating jointly.
The guerrilla asks Petro, the Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez, and the president of the Senate, Roy Barreras, if this will be a “government of deceit” or, on the contrary, and quoting the head of state, they will manage to make Colombia “a world power of life”.
This ELN front communiqué comes after several days of intense attacks by the guerrilla.
For the fifth time this year, they attacked an oil pipeline in the Araucanian municipality of Saravena.
Then they shot a military base in a rural area of Norte de Santander, leaving nine dead.
Because of this last attack, President Petro has called for consultations with the government delegation negotiating with the ELN.
With no confirmed date, their next meeting will be held in Havana after passing through Caracas and Mexico City.
With information from LGI