Star Metro - Colombian guerrillas offer peace talks with Petro successor

Petro, who will leave office in August following elections starting May 31, has failed to achieve his aim of "total peace," which entails negotiating the disarmament of all armed groups in a country that has endured over six decades of bloodshed.

His government's talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) came to a halt in January 2025 after the group launched an offensive against rival guerrillas in the northeast, killing over 100 people.

In an X post on Friday, Petro voiced his willingness to resume negotiations: "If the ELN decides to work with us to dismantle illicit economies, new paths to peace will open up again."

But ELN said in a statement Monday it would not deal with Petro again because he had used "treachery to gain military advantages" and forged agreements with his US counterpart Donald Trump to attack Colombian drug-trafficking groups.

ELN did say it was willing to talk with the next government about its "proposal to build a National Agreement" as a path to peace.

Left-leaning Senator Ivan Cepeda, a key architect of Petro's peace strategy, is currently the poll favorite to become the next president.

Cepeda has vowed to continue negotiating with various drug-trafficking factions that rejected a landmark 2016 peace deal between the state and the now-defunct rebel army FARC.

Cepeda is trailed by right-wing candidates Abelardo de la Espriella and Paloma Valencia, both of whom oppose dialogue with armed groups and have promised a security crackdown instead.

The ELN, the oldest surviving guerrilla group in the Americas, funds its activities through drug trafficking and other illegal activities.

A.Desjardins--SMC