The ELN, a leftist guerrilla group who have waged a 60-year insurgency in Colombia, announced on Tuesday that they would cease all offensive operations against the Colombian state. This step was agreed last week after negotiations in Havana, as a part of the larger ceasefire process which is set to begin in August. Colombia’s Defence Minister also confirmed that Colombia’s armed forces would halt offensive operations against the ELN.
Despite the halting of offensive action, the ELN will keep its defensive and security operations active in case of attack from the military and other criminal and armed groups.
This is part of a wider peace process from Colombia’s President Petro, who was elected last year with the promise of ending the drug war. Since then, he has sought ceasefires and peace deals with the numerous criminal and armed groups operating in Colombia.
Update: Despite this announcement the Colombian Army announced earlier today the ELN captured second sergeant Ghislaine Karina Ramírez and her children, aged 6 and 8, in the Colombian municipality of Arauca. The kidnapping was said to occur on July 3, hours before the ELN announced the truce the following day.
