Colombia’s ELN rebels declare ceasefire ahead of elections

BOGOTA, Colombia (MNTV) – Colombia’s largest guerrilla movement, the National Liberation Army (ELN), has declared a unilateral ceasefire ahead of upcoming elections, saying the pause is intended to reduce tensions as political violence across the country continues to intensify.

Colombia will elect new members of Congress on March 8 and choose a successor to leftist President Gustavo Petro on May 31.

The ELN, a 6,000-strong force that functions both as a leftist insurgency and one of Latin America’s most powerful drug-trafficking organizations, typically orders temporary truces during election periods and major holidays.

Petro’s administration has abandoned unsuccessful peace negotiations with the group, and experts say the ELN has grown stronger in recent years on the back of cocaine revenues.

A report released Monday by Colombia’s Ombudsman’s Office cited 457 death threats against civil and political leaders during the pre-election period.

“It is very worrying, and it is clear that the situation is deteriorating,” Miroslav Jenca, UN special representative for Colombia, told AFP. The report identified the ELN, the Gulf Clan — Colombia’s main drug cartel — and dissident factions of the now-defunct FARC guerrilla group as key “sources of threats” to free elections.

The assassination last year of conservative presidential candidate Miguel Uribe has deepened fears of a return to the political violence that terrorized Colombia throughout the 1980s and 1990s, when cocaine cartels and armed groups made political assassinations a common occurrence.