The head of Colombia’s largest remaining rebel group said on Monday it would only abide by a recent agreement to suspend the kidnappings of civilians for ransom if the government keeps its promise to finance projects that could provide the rebels with alternate sources of income.
In a column published on Christmas Day, National Liberation Army commander Antonio García argued that Colombian officials and journalists had misinformed the public on Dec. 17, when they announced that the rebels had agreed to stop kidnappings, if a cease-fire with the government is extended next year.
Colombians have grown angry at kidnappings by the guerrillas, known by their Spanish initials as the ELN.
García said that while such an agreement was reached during a recent round of peace talks in Mexico City, the government had also agreed in the talks to create a committee that would find ways to finance the peace talks and the current ceasefire and determine what kind of activities will be funded.
The conflict between the government and the leftist rebels of the ELN dates back to the 1960s. The larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, agreed a peace deal with the government in 2016, but the ELN still has about 2,000 to 4,000 fighters in Colombia and neighboring Venezuela.
Read more here.
