Media concentration affects democracy says Atilio Boron

The Colombian government and ELN are trying to settle differences in Venezuela

Expectations are growing for this meeting, which aims to defuse tensions and whose presence in the representations shows the will to continue the dialogue on both sides in view of the commitment to the Colombian people.

The day before, New Granada’s Ambassador to Caracas, Armando Benedetti, had welcomed his government’s peace delegation and expressed the hope of achieving “real and lasting peace,” well, yes, he wrote on his Twitter account.

We trust that the leader of the working group, Otty Patiño; the High Commissioner for Peace, Danilo Rueda; the President of the Colombian Ranchers’ Association, José Félix Lafaurie, and the whole team are achieving this, he said.

In a letter published on the same social network, signed by Benedetti and addressed to Rueda, the Plenipotentiary pointed out that the extraordinary meeting is part of the development of the dialogues and has the purpose of achieving complete peace under the leadership of President Gustavo Petro.

“We trust that you and the negotiators delegated for this mission will spare no effort to achieve a peaceful Colombia,” the ambassador said.

In a statement last week, Patiño, on behalf of his delegation, thanked Venezuela for hosting this extraordinary meeting and announced that the second cycle of talks would begin in Mexico in mid-February.

The ELN also confirmed today’s meeting on Twitter to raise “clarities to overcome the crisis that has arisen and the harmonious continuity of the second cycle,” he said.

On December 31, President Gustavo Petro announced a six-month bilateral ceasefire with five armed organizations, including the National Liberation Army.

Two days later, the guerrilla said in a communiqué that there was still no agreement on this and explained on its official website that after the end of the first cycle of talks in this capital, only the institutionalization of the desk.

In addition, he determined to make adjustments to the agenda that were brought to consultations with both the President and Central Command.

“Once we have finalized what is planned, we will be in a position to discuss the bilateral ceasefire proposal and consider the conditions that will allow an agreement to be reached. We understand the government decree as a proposal to be considered in the next cycle,” the guerrilla noted.

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