Colombia peace talks with ELN rebels set to resume amid tensions

Bogota, Colombia – Peace talks between the Colombian government and the largest remaining rebel group in the South American country, the National Liberation Army (ELN), are to resume this week in Mexico City.

While left-wing President Gustavo Petro’s administration has expressed optimism over the renewed negotiations, tensions between Bogota and the ELN have grown since the last round of talks ended in December in Caracas, Venezuela.

The Colombian government was forced to backtrack on a New Year’s Eve announcement that a truce had been reached after the ELN denied that any such agreement existed. Instead, the rebels said a ceasefire “was merely a proposal to be considered”.

Now, as the second round of talks is to begin on Monday in the Mexican capital, experts have questioned how the government’s apparent misstep will affect the prospect of ending decades of armed conflict in Colombia and how reliable any potential ceasefires will be going forward.

“Expectations in affected communities were sky-high after [last year’s] elections,” which brought Petro to power, said Kyle Johnson, co-founder of the Conflict Responses Foundation, which studies armed conflict and peacebuilding in Colombia.

“But now we’re starting to see doubt,” he told Al Jazeera. “Residents in militarised conflict areas ask, ‘If there is a ceasefire, why are there still soldiers and tanks in my community?”