President Juan Manuel Santos has ordered the immediate suspension of the peace talks with the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN). He did so at the very start of the fifth round of negotiations being held in Ecuador, and in response to the ELN’s launch of a series of attacks just hours after the expiry of the ceasefire that the two sides agreed to observe last year. There were high hopes in Colombia that, given the relative success of the ceasefire and the progress being made in the talks, the two sides would agree to extend the ceasefire at least until the end of this year’s electoral season. But there are now concerns that the talks will collapse, resulting in an upsurge in violence ahead of the presidential and congressional elections.End of preview - This article contains approximately 753 words.
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