Latinnews Daily - 13 February 2018 |
Colombia's judiciary moves against ELN top brass |
Development: On 12 February, Colombia's judiciary issued 21 arrest warrants for guerrillas in the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), including five members of its central command (Coce). Significance: The arrest warrants underpin the assertion by President Juan Manuel Santos that resuming his government’s peace negotiations with the ELN will be “very difficult”. With only six months left in office, Santos no longer has the political capital he enjoyed at the outset of his government’s peace negotiations with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) guerrillas in Cuba, and the majority of presidential aspirants ahead of May’s presidential election are now opposed to pursuing talks with the ELN in view of the violence unleashed by the guerrilla group since the expiry of the bilateral ceasefire on 10 January.
Looking Ahead: Unless the ELN makes a significant gesture in the near future the prospects for a resumption of the peace process with the Colombian government in Ecuador look bleak. |