Security & Strategic Review -June 2007 (ISSN 1741-4202)

Despite the secrecy re-imposed on talks between the government in Colombia and the guerrillas of the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) in Havana, optimists see one sign of progress: the two sides are still talking after two months, the longest round yet of the 'exploratory' negotiations. In contrast, the prospect of an ice-breaking 'humanitarian exchange' of prisoners between the government and the Farc guerrillas has all but diminished, following the failure of a manoeuvre by President Alvaro Uribe to force the Farc's hand with the unilateral release of 150 Farc convicts.