​

Caracas, November 18 (RHC)-- The city of Caracas will serve as the seat of the dialogue table between the Colombian Government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla forces, the Colombian Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.

"(...) Resolution 265 of November 15, 2022, recognized as authorized representatives of the National Liberation Army to participate in the Dialogue Table to be resumed by the national Government with that organization in Caracas (Venezuela)," said the statement of the Prosecutor's Office, disseminated on its Twitter account.  The resumption of peace talks between the Colombian State and the ELN will begin next Monday, November 21st, according to confirmed President Gustavo Petro.

On October 4, Petro's administration and the rebels signed a communiqué in Caracas, in which they agreed to reinstall the talks with their respective delegations.  They decided to resume the agreements and advances achieved since the signing of the March 30, 2016, agenda.

In September, Petro asked his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolás Maduro, to be a guarantor in the peace process with the ELN, and the latter accepted.

Venezuela was a guarantor of a peace process in 2016, when it accompanied the first phase of talks with the ELN, together with Cuba, Norway, Chile, Brazil and Ecuador.   In 2019, former President Iván Duque (2018-2022) suspended that process after a car bomb attack against the Police Cadet School that left 21 dead, including the attacker, and 68 wounded.

At that time, Duque announced the reactivation of arrest warrants against members of the ELN peace negotiators for the attack and asked Cuba, the host of the talks, to enforce them.  However, these arrest warrants were suspended on November 17 by Petro's Government to restart the dialogue.