During the closing of the 6th Cycle of the Peace Dialogue Table, presided over by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, the parties also announced the ELN’s commitment to suspend economic retentions unilaterally and temporarily.

According to the agreement, this commitment will be followed up by the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism.

They also assured that in order to articulate the temporary ceasefire agreement, they will advance in the resolution of critical factors, which will be evaluated in the 7th Cycle next April.

Likewise, the different partial agreements on the participation of society in the peace process and humanitarian relief in critical zones are also advancing, which together with the fulfillment of the ceasefire, require greater implementation efforts.

In order to achieve this objective, they plan to create a multi-donor fund (guarantor countries, accompanying countries and the United Nations) to support the compliance with these agreements.

In this regard, the parties referred to the need for the correct use of resources.

They also agreed on the creation of an observatory to analyze paramilitarism and its implications.

The head of the Colombian National Government’s delegation, Vera Grabe, thanked Cuba for its work as a guarantor State and the rest of the organizations and countries that support the dialogue.

She assured that every step taken is worthwhile and important, and the process aspires to achieve total peace.

The head of the ELN delegation, Pablo Beltrán, in turn, recalled that the dialogue began 18 months ago with the common objective of reducing violence in Colombia and generating a model of participation for the creation of national peace.

He noted that from April to May they expect to have a plan of popular participation to listen to all the opinions of the different sectors of society on the construction of stability.

He added that in a world marked by war and conflict, the fact that a country marked by violence for more than 70 years, as is the case of Colombia, can establish dialogue to solve its problems sheds light on the situation.

Representatives of the guarantor States (Cuba, the Kingdom of Norway, Venezuela, Chile, the United Mexican States and Brazil) participated in the signing of the agreement, in addition to the Episcopal Conference of Colombia and the United Nations.

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