The move comes in response to ELN attacks in the country’s northeast, which President Gustavo Petro describes as war crimes.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced the suspension of peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels, accusing group the commission of war crimes in the Catatumbo region on Colombia’s border with Venezuela.
“The dialogue process with this group has been suspended; The ELN has no will for peace,” Petro said in a social media post on Friday.
On Thursday, ELN fighters killed at least five members demobilized The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group, Reuters news agency reported.
The ELN has also launched attacks against a dissident FARC faction known as Estado Mayor Central (EMC), which is engaged in separate peace talks with the government.
Carlos Ruiz Massieu, the representative of United Nations chief Antonio Guterres in Colombia, condemned the attacks and called for the protection of civilians.
“I call on the armed groups to stop their violent actions,” Massieu said in a post on X on Thursday. A true will for dialogue requires respect for the lives of those who have chosen for peace.
Reporting from the Colombian capital Bogota on Friday morning, Al Jazeera’s Alessandro Rampietti said the level of violence seen this week had not been seen in Catatumbo for years.
“This is a region that has always been unstable,” Rampietti said, explaining that various armed groups have long operated in the area amid a struggle to control cocaine smuggling routes and other illicit activities.
“But what we’ve seen happening since yesterday is that the ELN is attacking its enemies who consider them with violence the likes of which we haven’t seen in a long time,” he said. “We’ve seen more than 70 families leave the area, displaced.”
Rampietti added that further clashes are expected in the coming weeks and months.
Last year, Peter’s government achieved a a six-month truce and started a peace process with the ELN, which was due to expire in February.
But clashes have repeatedly derailed the talks, which broke down in September after a deadly ELN attack targeting government forces. Negotiations continued later in 2024.
Colombia has endured a decades-long war with leftist rebel groups, some of which have been linked to drug trafficking.
In 2016, the country reached a landmark agreement that ended fighting with the FARC, and members of the group laid down their weapons. But violence with breakaway factions of the ELN and FARC not recognizing the 2016 pact continued.
When the leftist Petro took office in 2022. he promised “complete peace” in the country and tried to push for a truce with the armed groups.
“We will work tirelessly to bring peace and tranquility to every corner of Colombia. This is a government of life and peace, and it will be remembered for that,” said Petro in his inaugural speech.
While his strategy has reduced violence, infighting among the rebels and clashes with the Colombian military remain.
“Armed groups continue to abuse civilians severely and expand their presence across the country,” Human Rights Watch said in a recent report.
“Security forces and judicial authorities have often failed to effectively protect the population, ensure victims have access to justice and meaningfully investigate and dismantle criminal groups.”
This week, Guterres repeated his call for an end to the fighting.
“I call on the parties to establish a new ceasefire as soon as possible, with a strong monitoring and verification mechanism and a scope broad enough to improve the security of conflict-affected communities,” the UN secretary-general said in a statement.
