Peace Initiatives in Colombia:
Dialogues with the ELN

March 12, 2002

ELN and Colombian government negotiators meeting in Havana announce that "we have begun study of a cease-fire accord" that would include international verification.

[Español] Joint ELN-Colombian government communiqué, March 12, 2002

January 29-February 2, 2002

The ELN and Colombian government hold a round of meetings in Havana, Cuba. A joint commission is established to draw up a timetable for talks.

[Español] ELN-government declaration, February 2, 2002

[Español] ELN declaration, January 30, 2002

December 15, 2001

In Havana, Cuba, the Colombian government and ELN guerrillas agree to begin discussions of a cease-fire during the second week of January, and to hold a series of thematic meetings in Cuba from January to June. These meetings, to be attended by a maximum of fifty people, will cover progress and challenges to the talks (January 30-31), International Humanitarian Law (February 25-27), participatory democracy (March 25-27), agrarian problems, narcotrafficking and crop substitution (April 29-May 1), energy and mining (May 27-29), and the economy and social problems (June 24-26).

Two days later, the ELN announces a unilateral cease-fire for the Christmas holiday (December 17-January 6).

"Declaration of Havana," December 15, 2001 [Español].
ELN Christmas truce communiqué, December 17, 2001 [Español].

November 24, 2001

After a week of meetings in Havana, Cuba, the Colombian government and ELN guerrillas agree to re-start negotiations. President Pastrana had broken off contacts with the group on August 7. The Havana meetings began on November 18, one week after congress members Antonio Navarro Wolff, Benjamín Higuita and Luis Fernando Velasco met with ELN leaders in Venezuela.

According to the government-ELN "Accord for Colombia," the talks are to re-start in Havana on December 12, 2001. Topics will include a possible cease-fire, measures to reduce the conflict, and problems of Colombia's energy sector.

[Español] Text of "Accord for Colombia," November 24, 2001

November 18, 2001

Colombian government and ELN representatives begin meetings in Havana, Cuba, the first conversations since President Pastrana broke off contacts with the group on August 7. The re-opened talks occur one week after congress members Antonio Navarro Wolff, Benjamín Higuita and Luis Fernando Velasco met with ELN leaders in Venezuela.

October 26 , 2001

Twenty-three mayors from violence-torn eastern Antioquia department secretly negotiate a cease-fire with ELN guerrillas. In exchange for a halt to hostilities, the mayors agree to relocate police stations outside of town centers. The national government strongly opposes the agreement, and on November 19 the AUC paramilitaries kidnap six of the region's mayors.

[Español] Letter from AUC to Antioquia Governor Guillermo Gaviria, November 19, 2001

Pastrana speech cutting off contacts with ELN, August 7, 2001 [Spanish]

ELN response, August 8, 2001 [Spanish]

Pastrana states at CNN conference that he is willing to meet with ELN leaders, May 29, 2001 [English| Spanish]
Communiqué from the Colombian government about the peace talks with the ELN, May 22, 2001 [English| Spanish]
Conditions for the establishment of a demilitarized zone, May 15, 2001 [English| Spanish]
ELN letter to the High Commissioner of Peace, April 26, 2001 [English| Spanish]
ELN Statement: The enemies of peace oppose change, April 19, 2001 [English| Spanish]
Chavez is willing to offer Venezuela as the site for dialogues with the ELN, April 18, 2001 [English| Spanish]
ELN letter to Ambassadors and the Commission of Civil Facilitation, April 13, 2001 [English| Spanish]
ELN Statement: Why the peace process has entered a crisis period, April 12, 2001 [English| Spanish]
Government promises to confront threats to peace process with the ELN, April 2, 2001 [English| Spanish]
Colombian government states that conditions are favorable for renewed contacts with the ELN, March 30, 2001 [English| Spanish]
The Commissioner of Peace asks for trust in the peace processes with the FARC and the ELN, March 16, 2001 [English| Spanish]
ELN letter to the High Commissioner of Peace, March 8, 2001 [English| Spanish]
Interview with ELN Comandante Pablo Beltrán concerning the talks with the Colombian government, March 5, 2001 [English| Spanish]
Public Statement: The ELN opposes the coca fumigations, February 18, 2001 [English| Spanish]
Declaration of Aguas Lindas, January 31, 2001 [English| Spanish]
Encounter with the media, theELN, and the Colombian Peace Commissioner, January 26, 2001 [English| Spanish]
Meeting advance towards the establishment of a demilitarized zone, January 5, 2001 [English| Spanish]
ELN Message for the New Year: A Commitment to constructing a National Pact and Confronting Plan Colombia, December 30, 2000 [English | Spanish]
Declaration of San José, Costa Rica, October 18, 2000 [English| Spanish]
Declaration of Geneva, July 25, 2000 [English | Spanish]
ELN Statement from Geneva, July 24, 2000 [English| Spanish]
ELN: Towards a National Consensus, July 23, 2000 [English| Spanish]
ELN Public Statement from Serranía de San Lucas, June 22, 2000 [English| Spanish]
ELN National Pact Proposal, May 26-28, 2000 [English| Spanish]
Government communiqué on the "encounter zone," April 25, 2000 [English | Spanish]
Announcement of Easter truce, April 12, 2000 [English | Spanish]
The Peace Process: An ELN Proposition for Social Reconstruction, April 2000 [English| Spanish]
ELN Statement of Revolutionary Goals[English| Spanish]

"Puerta del Cielo" agreement with civil society leaders, signed in Mainz, Germany, July 1998 (English | Spanish)

Summary of demands, from Peace on the Table