Colombia, ELN rebels agree to peace talks: President
The Colombian government and the country`s last active rebel group, the ELN, have reached a new agreement to launch formal peace talks, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Wednesday.
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Graubunden: The Colombian government and the country`s last active rebel group, the ELN, have reached a new agreement to launch formal peace talks, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Wednesday.
Colombia has suffered more than half a century of civil war that has killed 260,000 people, according to the authorities.
Santos has already signed a historic peace accord with the country`s biggest rebel group, the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
That deal is seen as effectively ending Latin America`s last major armed conflict.
It will demobilize and disarm the 5,700-strong FARC and transform them into a political party.
Santos says that adding a peace deal with the smaller leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) would allow him to achieve "complete peace" in Colombia.
The ELN is estimated to have about 1,500 members.
Santos`s government and ELN negotiators were on the verge of starting talks last in October in the Ecuadoran capital, Quito.
But that effort stalled due to a disagreement over the release of a lawmaker held by the ELN.
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