According to government sources, Spain this Friday agreed to be a companion country at the dialogue table between the Colombian government and the ELN guerrillas. President Pedro Sánchez offered to mediate in the peace process to Gustavo Petro during his visit to Bogotá last August. Just this Tuesday, Spain received the official letter to become part of the group of countries providing accompaniment, assistance and cooperation (GPAAC), which also includes the United States, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland.
Spain aspires to play a more prominent role in Latin America than it currently has in the region. While he will be part of the peace process with the last guerrillas, he is also trying to play a role at the dialogue table in Mexico between Chavismo and the opposition. In fact, he has just appointed a new ambassador to Caracas, a vacancy since 2020 when Spain joined the bloc of countries that supported Juan Guaidó and ignored Nicolás Maduro. Spain, like France, has backed down and once again considers Maduro the president of this country.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro attends the eleventh binational Ecuador-Colombia cabinet in the border town of Tulcán, Ecuador this week. Jose Jacome (EFE)
Spain’s mediation with the ELN can help strengthen a dialogue that has endured difficult times in recent months. Petro announced a ceasefire at the end of the year that wasn’t actually agreed upon with the guerrillas, which infuriated the leaders of the armed group. Talks were suspended until a new meeting was held in Caracas and the waters calmed down. The following takes place in two weeks in Mexico, one of the guarantee countries alongside Venezuela, Chile and Brazil. The idea is that dialogue table meetings will take place in all these countries, although the negotiators welcome staying in Caracas almost permanently given the logistical difficulties. Many of the guerrilla leaders live in this city.
At the Celac summit in Buenos Aires a week ago, Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva indicated that Spain would take on that role and join the delegation. The letter that Spain received this Friday and its affirmative meaning are confirmation that this will be the case. Joining this dialogue means clearly and directly supporting the total peace of Petro, the project with which the left-wing president of Colombia wants to involve all the country’s armed actors in similar dialogue tables, while achieving pacification. That would mean a truce, a truce in a nation locked in intersecting wars for nearly 60 years. Spain has sided with Petro.
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