By Alejandra Garcia and Bill Hackwell on June 9, 2023
Cuba President Dias Canel applauds Colombian President Petro and ELN leader Antonio Garcia
Today will be remembered as a historic day for Colombia, Cuba, and all of Latin America. After decades of continuous violence and internal conflict, the government of President Gustavo Petro and the National Liberation Army (ELN) agreed to a ceasefire during the closing of the third cycle of peace talks that had been taking place in Havana, Cuba, since early May.
Colombia is closer to achieving peace than it was at anytime during the previous right wing administration of Ivan Duque. All of Latin America has closely followed this development with hope that this third round of talks, which concluded in Havana with the presence of the Colombian leader, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, and Commander Antonio García, the ELN’s top leader.
Petro arrived in the Cuban capital on Thursday night to accompany the formal closing of the third round of dialogue, which encouraged expectations about the new agreements. The previous rounds of negotiations took place in Venezuela (November) and Mexico (March).
“I am going to sign a paper that can mean the non-reversible beginning of an era of peace for this country,” Petro said in Bogota in front of a massive rally of supporters on Wednesday, shortly after announcing his trip to Havana.
Why is it a historic day? The government and ELN guerrillas agreed for the first time in the country’s history to a bilateral ceasefire for the next six months ahead.
“There will be a national ceasefire with the ELN, and simultaneously we will have scenarios of territorial incidences. This will have a very positive impact on the territories. There will be a pedagogical process and guarantees to reduce the anguish of the Colombian people,” the Peace Commissioner, Danilo Rueda, told the local Colombian press this week.
“Thanks to the meticulous work of the peace delegation, an atmosphere of absolute confidence and security is being generated to face the setbacks,” he added.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry published on its Twitter account that the government and guerrilla authorities agreed on a ceasefire, the participation of society in the peace-building process, and new humanitarian actions and dynamics.
Although the final signing of the agreements was due to take place on Thursday, it got postponed to Friday in order to finish the final details of the texts of the Cuba Agreements and their respective protocols, according to press reports.
The fourth cycle of talks will be held in Venezuela, from August 14 to September 4. On that occasion, the parties will take stock of the fulfillment of what they have agreed. Once again, the eyes of Latin America will be upon these dialogues, as the road to definitive peace has begun as of today.
During the closing of the recent negotiating session, President Petro took the opportunity to show his support to Cuba amid the U.S. government’s opportunistic hostilities towards the island just two days ago. The closure of this round of negotiations occurred amid a wave of falsehoods from the United States and transnational corporations around the world, which insisted that Cuba was set to host an alleged Chinese spy base that would target the southern coast of the northern country.
Although the White House and the Pentagon denied the accusations, the media continues to echo this big lie, initially published by the Wall Street Journal. The timing fits the US playbook of spreading lies about countries who don’t line up with them at strategic moments.
It should be remembered that earlier negotiations reached a similar conclusion in 2016 in Cuba between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government. In both cases Cuba has played the role of neutral host and guarantor of the talks but in 2018 Trump used that as the main reason for hypocritically putting Cuba on their list of State Sponsors of Terrorism which the Biden Administration, with no shame, allows to continue. If we could just stop for a moment and think about this. How is it that a country that provides a safe space for peace negotiations be then rewarded by being labeled as a country that sponsors terrorism?
“I told President Biden that putting Cuba on the State Sponsor of Terrorism list was a profound injustice that must be rectified,” President Petro said and emphasized his gratitude to Cuba for having historically supported Colombia in its efforts to seek peace.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English