In response to the request of the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, this Tuesday the President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro, agreed to be guarantor in the process of resuming the peace negotiations between the Government of the New Granadean nation and the National Liberation Army-ELN:
“Once again, as Commander (Hugo) Chávez did in his time to guarantee the peace agreements, Venezuela accepts the character of guarantor of the negotiations and peace agreements between Colombia and the ELN; and we will put our best will for the total peace of Colombia”, announced the Head of State, specifying that the formal proposal came into his hands through a letter signed by his counterpart, Gustavo Petro.
From Valencia, Carabobo state, the national president pointed out that Venezuela is committed to peace, security and absolute stability in Colombia, therefore it means «the peace of South America, of the entire continent.»
«In that I carry the voice of all the people of Venezuela, of the 6,200,000 Colombians who live in Venezuela (…) We will go there and for that we will commit all our efforts, all our work,» he stressed.
Bolivarian Peace Diplomacy:
According to Colombian media, the reactivation of the peace dialogue between the Government of Colombia and the ELN will take place in the coming days. In this sense, it is expected that the process will have the participation of Chile, Cuba, Spain and Venezuela as guarantors, as reports the multi-state owned Telesur TV station.
Under the presidency of Commander Hugo Chávez, Venezuela played a leading role in the Peace Agreements between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP). Likewise, Caracas served as host of the exploratory dialogues and companion of the peace process in 2016.