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Colombia may talk peace with ELN rebels in Mexico
12 Apr 2005 23:09:03 GMT
Source: Reuters
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BOGOTA, Colombia, April 12 (Reuters) - The stage is being set for possible peace talks between Colombia and its second largest rebel group, the Mexican diplomat mediating between the two sides said on Tuesday. Andres Valencia met near the Colombian city of Medellin on Tuesday with Francisco Galan, leader of the 5,000-strong National Liberation Army, known by its Spanish initials ELN. Valencia told reporters they discussed ways "to reduce and eliminate differences in order to make a meeting possible in Mexico." He gave no time frame for the possible encounter. The ELN and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's government have been in contact since June 2004, with Mexico acting as an intermediary. But it will not be easy to bring the ELN's 40-year-long war against the state to a close. The group wants Uribe to free ELN prisoners from Colombian jails and negotiate a bilateral cease-fire. Uribe has said the ELN, which funds itself by kidnapping, must unilaterally disarm if talks are to take place. While the Andean country's biggest guerrilla force, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and right-wing paramilitary militias have grown rich on the huge cocaine business, the ELN has officially sworn off drug smuggling. This leaves it at a financial disadvantage that may help prompt it to follow the steps of former rebel group M-19, which in 1989 negotiated a deal to disarm.
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