With much of the focus in Latin America directed at Venezuela and the election fraud of President Nicolás Maduro, one of the government’s close ideological allies, Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, is facing the imminent collapse of peace talks with the country’s Marxist National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla.
The peace talks with the ELN, a cornerstone of Petro’s ambitious “total peace” agenda, have been overshadowed in recent weeks by the monumental events taking place in neighboring Venezuela, a country where the ELN has received safe haven from the Maduro government.
Launching a scathing criticism against Petro, the ELN now accuses the Colombian government of promoting “genocide” under the guise of pursuing “total peace.”
The ELN issued a statement condemning Petro’s approach to peace, claiming that his policies mirror those of the country’s historical elites and contribute to what they described as “popular genocide.” The group’s Central Command alleged that the government’s security strategy continues to suppress revolutionary movements and discredits their ongoing struggle.
“The much-publicized total peace serves the continued genocide of popular leadership, designed to drown in blood every attempt at change,” the ELN’s statement read. “While President Petro speaks out against the prevailing injustice, his pacification plan serves to perpetuate the tyrannical regime.”
These sharp remarks highlight the growing tensions between Petro’s administration and the ELN, potentially derailing peace negotiations that have been central to the president’s policy agenda. Since taking office, Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president, has sought to end the country’s decades-long armed conflict through dialogue with rebel groups, with the ELN peace talks being a cornerstone of his efforts.
The ELN’s accusations suggest that the peace process is now on shaky ground, with the group questioning the government’s sincerity and commitment to addressing the underlying social and economic inequalities that fuel the conflict.
The latest dispute centers around the ELN’s demand to be removed from Colombia’s list of Organized Armed Groups (GAO), a designation that labels them as terrorists and criminal actors. The group’s top commander, Antonio García, took to social media to criticize the government’s delay in fulfilling what he claims was an agreed-upon condition for peace talks.
“The time is ticking, and the Gustavo Petro government has yet to respond if it will remove the ELN from the GAO list, as agreed. It’s a simple agreement; what will happen with more substantial agreements? What a danger!” García wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Otty Patiño, Colombia’s High Commissioner for Peace, dismissed the ELN’s demands as unrealistic, arguing that any move to de-list the group would require legislation and approval from Congress, a process that is politically fraught and unlikely to succeed.
“Involving Congress is necessary, and currently, there is no favorable environment for that,” Patiño said in an interview with RCN Radio. “What has already been done by considering them an armed group with political motivations is sufficient, which, in some way, characterizes them as a political actor.”
Patiño also refuted allegations from García that the peace agenda was being manipulated under pressure from the United States and Colombia’s military forces. “The only person who guides me and who guides the peace policy in general is the President of the Republic. The United States does not attend any of the negotiation tables as guarantors, and even if they were present as guarantors, the facilitators could not dictate orders to me,” Patiño asserted.
He emphasized that while he leads the peace negotiations, the broader strategic decisions lie with President Petro and the Colombian Congress, not external actors.
The breakdown in communication and trust between the ELN and the Colombian government casts a shadow over the future of the peace talks. If negotiations were to fail, it would be a significant setback for Petro’s administration, which has made achieving “total peace” a key objective. The impasse also raises concerns about the potential resurgence of violence, with the ELN still possessing considerable military capability in Colombia’s rural regions.
Despite the growing uncertainty, Petro’s government has so far refrained from escalating the conflict, preferring to keep the door open for dialogue. However, with the ELN’s increasingly confrontational rhetoric, the prospects for a peaceful resolution appear more remote than ever.
