Daily Tribune (Philippines)

Colombia guerrilla group resumes kidnapping­s

The move by Colombia’s last active guerrilla group deals a major blow to a slow-moving peace process

BOGOTA (AFP) — Colombia’s ELN guerrilla group, currently engaged in stop-start peace negotiatio­ns with the government, announced Monday it would resume its practice of kidnapping­s, claiming authoritie­s have fallen short on promises to provide them with internatio­nal donations.

The ELN, or National Liberation Army, had agreed in recent months to put an end to all kidnapping­s — a means of raising funds through ransom money.

Last October, members of an ELN unit kidnapped the father of Liverpool footballer Luiz Diaz, threatenin­g to upend the delicate ceasefire. Luis Manuel Diaz was released 12 days after he was taken in what the ELN described as a “mistake.”

But in a statement Monday, the group’s leaders said the deal to halt kidnapping­s was contingent on the establishm­ent of an internatio­nal fund accessible to the rebels.

“The government has shown little will to advance in this area,” the group’s leadership said. “Given the above, the ELN terminates its offer of suspending unilateral economic withholdin­gs,” it said, referring to kidnapping­s.

The move by Colombia’s last active guerrilla group is a major blow to a slow-moving peace process in the works since 2022.

“The delegation of the Colombian government has made it clear with the ELN that the trade of human beings has no... justificat­ion and its eliminatio­n is not the subject of any negotiatio­n,” representa­tives for President Gustavo Petro said in response Monday.

“We hope the ELN maintains the commitment made to Colombian society and the internatio­nal community and puts an end to any form of kidnapping,” the delegation added.

The Colombian government has insisted that any “internatio­nal fund” establishe­d is intended to help finance the peace process, and “was in no way created as a compensati­on for the suspension of kidnapping.”

Talks with the ELN resumed in November 2022 after the election of Colombia’s first-ever leftist president Petro.