Colombia, ELN ask three more countries to participate in peace talks 

Colombia’s government and the leftist guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN) agreed to invite Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and the United States as guarantor countries for the peace talks that began earlier this week in Venezuela. 

On Friday, the two sides agreed to add Brazil, Chile, and Mexico to the list of guarantor countries, which include Cuba, Norway, and Venezuela, participating in the negotiations that seek to put an end to more than 60 years of war. 

They also agreed to reach out to U.S. officials “to find out its willingness to participate in the process” and send an envoy to participate in the next rounds of negotiations. 

The two parties also said that they would invite Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and Spain as “accompanying countries” throughout the process. 

The first round of talks was held on Monday in Caracas, Venezuela, more than a month after the resumption of negotiations was announced and three years after the prior negotiations failed. 

Previous talks between the ELN and the Colombian government began in 2017 in Ecuador. However, they were called off in 2019 when ELN bombed a police academy in Bogota. 

ELN is Colombia’s largest remaining rebel group, which has around 2,500 members that are most active in the Pacific region and along the country’s border with Venezuela. 

In a joint declaration, the two parties said they wanted to “build peace based on a democracy with justice” by restarting negotiation talks. The ELN and the government have said that they have been working in an “environment of trust and optimism.”