Cuba’s classification as a country that supports terrorism further entails negotiations with the ELN

The US decision, based on the fact that that country welcomed the guerrilla delegation to the island, was read by the Colombian government as an endorsement of its position regarding the stay in Cuba of the ELN negotiators. The possibility of the return of that delegation to the country is further removed, as established by the protocols signed during the Santos government.

The possibility of resuming peace dialogues between the Colombian government and the ELN seems to be increasingly extinguished. Now, the United States State Department revealed that it included Cuba, the guarantor country and headquarters of that peace process during the Santos Government, in its list of countries that did not cooperate in the fight against terrorism during 2019. The argument ? continue to host the ELN peace delegation on the island despite the request by the Colombian government for extradition of several of those insurgent leaders who make up the delegation.

(Read: “There is enough cohesion within the ELN to negotiate peace”: Pablo Beltrán)

“Cuba’s refusal to productively engage with the Colombian government shows that it is not cooperating with the work of the United States to support Colombia’s efforts to guarantee just and lasting peace, security, and opportunities for its people,” says the Department’s text. of State.

As soon as that decision was known, the high commissioner for Peace, Miguel Ceballos, came up with it in a statement and assured that it is an endorsement of the position that the Government of President Duque has assumed regarding the stay of the delegation of the ELN in Cuba, which is unaware of the protocols that the guerrillas, the Colombian State and the guarantor countries had agreed to in the event of a breakdown in the negotiations. “The United States is unaware of the protocols. It is the same statement from the State Department that supports its decision based on the presence of members of the ELN in Cuba, which that guerrilla has wanted to justify with those protocols, ”Ceballos reaffirmed in dialogue with Colombia2020.

The protocol referred to by the high commissioner Ceballos is an 11-point document signed on April 5, 2016 by Frank Pearl, head of the Government delegation in the dialogues with the ELN, and Antonio García, head of the delegation of that warfare; in addition to the guarantor countries, including, for example, Norway. Among others, there it was agreed that, in case the negotiation broke down, the parties and the guarantor countries had 15 days to make concrete the return to Colombia of the members of the ELN delegation. There was also talk of the cessation of military operations for 72 hours in the areas where the insurgent delegation’s insertions were made.

(See the details of the protocol: This is the protocol signed by Colombia, Eln and the guarantor countries in case of the breakdown of the dialogues)

It is worth remembering that after the January 2019 attack on the General Santander cadet school in Bogotá, the responsibility of which was attributed to the ELN, the government of President Duque ignored that protocol and asked the Cuban government for extradition of several of the members of That delegation, including Gabino, maximum commander of the ELN, and Pablo Beltrán, member of the delegation. Since then, the government of President Duque has remained firm in its position of disregarding the protocols, while the ELN, the guarantor countries, and political and diplomatic sectors have demanded its compliance, arguing among others that it is a commitment of the State and not of the Government. However, the recent decision of the United States State Department supports the position of the Colombian government.

Meanwhile, the ELN delegation in Cuba has two different legal situations, according to the high commissioner for Peace: on the one hand, there are those who present extradition requests, as in the cases of Gabino, Pablo Beltrán, Aureliano Carbonel and Alirio Sepúlveda. On the other, there are those who are requested through the Interpol red circular, and who are also part of that negotiating team.

Precisely about this situation, on April 27, in the same communiqué in which the ELN announced that it would not extend the unilateral cease-fire that it held during the month of April, that guerrilla also assured that “it is time for our delegation to return to our camps with all the guarantees and security conditions agreed with the Colombian State, with the presence of guarantor countries ”. A claim by the ELN that today seems far from the Government, which is even more grounded in its position regarding these protocols.

(You may be interested: “The ELN must make a public commitment to uninstall antipersonnel mines”: Miguel Ceballos)

The inclusion of Cuba in that list, as well as the statement that the high commissioner Ceballos made of that fact, was criticized by different political and social sectors that have defended the negotiated exit with the ELN. “Unfortunately, this government has no interest in a negotiated agreement with the ELN, which leaves us with an unresolved conflict suffered by communities in 120 municipalities. Cuba suffers from a policy of hostility in which the government of President Duque participates. We are far from solving that conflict, ”said analyst Luis Eduardo Celis. Likewise, there were several voices that rejected the fact and supported Cuba’s work for peace in Colombia:

For his part, Commissioner Ceballos assured that it is time for the ELN to make the decision to bet on peace, which means complying with the conditions demanded by President Duque: immediate cessation of kidnapping, release of all kidnapped, the cessation of the recruitment of minors and the delivery of those minors to their families, and the cessation of the installation of antipersonnel mines. In this regard, the high commissioner maintained that on March 31, a day before the unilateral cessation of the ELN began, that guerrilla kidnapped two former police assistants, 20 and 22 years old, on the road that leads from Teorama to Ocaña. in the Catatumbo, Norte de Santander.

In addition, he maintained that “if the ELN’s decision is genuinely to seek peace, the delegation that is in Cuba should not be an obstacle, you can always name other delegations. But it all depends on whether or not there is a will for peace. ”