“Enough, ELN: Enough with deaths, kidnappings and attacks”: Iván Duque

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Yesterday, Iván Duque put an end to the peace process with the ELN after the terrorist attack against the cadet school of the Santander General Police

The president of Colombia, Iván Duque, put an end to the peace process with the ELN, after the terrorist attack attributed to this illegal organization against the cadet school of the Santander General Police, which left 21 dead and more than 50 injured.

Leer en español: "Basta ya, señores del ELN. Basta ya de muertes, de secuestros y atentados": Iván Duque

According to the newspaper El Mundo, the announcement was made hours after the Ministry of Defense and the Prosecutor's Office blamed José Aldemar Rojas Rodríguez, a member of the guerrilla organization, as the material author of the massacre.

According to the KienyKe newspaper, despite the request made by the United Nations (UN) to continue peace talks with the ELN in the framework of a meeting led by Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo; the Attorney General of the Nation, Nestor Humberto Martinez; and the Minister of Defense, Guillermo Botero, the president was firm.

In a presidential press conference from the Casa de Nariño, Duque said: "Today, after summoning the National Security Council and to intensely dialogue with leaders of the international community, I have ordered the lifting of the suspension of arrest warrants at 10 members of the ELN that made up the delegation of this group in Cuba. "

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This means that, immediately, Interpol's red notice is reactivated against those who have arrest warrants and, according to the president's statements, any State that provides support or allows the presence of the group in its territory will be reported.

In addition, he revoked the resolution that created the conditions that allowed the guerrillas to stay on the island. "Enough, gentlemen of the ELN, enough of deaths, kidnappings, and attacks, Colombia says enough," said the president.

However, he called on the guerrillas to show gestures of peace if they want to sit down again at the negotiating table with the government, maintaining the same conditions for dialogue: cessation of all criminal activities and release of the kidnapped.

"Official records tell us that 5,682 innocent citizens have been kidnapped by the ELN in the last 23 years: this is 247 kidnapped a year, and about two people every three days. The ELN is and has been a criminal machine of kidnappings and attacks, "said Duque.

Colombians have always overcome obstacles

This was said by the president after recognizing that the decision adopted on Friday night, at the end of the National Security Council carried out at the Casa de Nariño, will have implications and challenges for the country. "But it has never been easy for us and Colombians have always overcome obstacles. This time will not be the exception, "he added.

LatinAmerican Post | Luisa Fernanda Báez

Translated from: '"Basta ya, señores del ELN. Basta ya de muertes, de secuestros y atentados": Iván Duque'