Colombia: Arrest warrants against members of the ELN are suspended

The Colombian Prosecutor’s Office has announced this Thursday that it has suspended the arrest warrants against the people that the country’s leftist president, Gustavo Petro, has recognized as representatives of the terrorist National Liberation Army (ELN) to participate in negotiations with the central government.

“Based on the principle of harmonious collaboration between public powers (…), and in response to the constitutional mandate that peace is a right and a mandatory duty, the nation’s attorney general, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, issued Resolution 00825 of November 17, 2022, by which it suspends each and every one of the arrest warrants, including those issued for extradition purposes,” reads a statement from the Prosecutor’s Office.

Read also: Check out our coverage on Colombia

The Public Ministry explains that it has made this decision against 17 citizens that Petro has indicated as “authorized representatives of the ELN to participate in the Dialogue Table that the National Government will resume with that organization in Caracas.”

Thus, the Ministry has indicated that the suspension of orders will be effective for Nicolás Rodríguez Bautista, Pablo Beltrán, Aureliano Carbonell, Bernardo Téllez, Gustavo Martínez, Consuelo Tapias, Silvana Guerrero, Isabel Torres, Óscar Serrano, Vivian Henao, Ricardo Pérez, Cataleya Jiménez, Eduin Restrepo, Américo Trespalacios, Manuela Márquez, Mauricio Iguarán and Simón Babón.

Petro confirmed this Thursday details about the start of peace talks with the guerrillas, which will be in Caracas starting next Monday, November 21.

The Colombian head of state pointed out that Otty Patiño, a political scientist and former M-19 guerrilla, will be the government’s chief negotiator in the talks, thus giving the name of the person in charge of leading the government side in peace talks.

With information from La Gaceta