Rodolfo Hernandez proposed including the ELN in the peace agreement with the FARC

In the third chapter of the government program of presidential candidate Rodolfo Hernandez, entitled A State of Equals Before the Law, in its section “Citizen Security and National Defense”, he talks about various situations that affect the tranquility and security of Colombians. He outlines strategies on how to improve the image of the armed forces in the country, and there he talks about an approach to negotiate with the National Liberation Army, ELN, in order to include it in the peace agreement signed with the extinct FARC guerrilla.

points to the government program.

It adds that the willingness to implement the agreement with the FARC must be promoted, meeting the schedules, providing “more dignified treatment” to the reinstated and that the public forces should be responsible for defending the signatories.

In this regard, it stresses that it is necessary to:

a measure that covers both the demobilized and the military who are covered by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace.

In this regard, it has a proposal on how to improve the image of the armed forces, for example:

So far, neither in debates nor in official pronouncements has the subject been deepened. In fact, on the part of the other candidates, they have very rarely referred to what they will do with the different armed groups. In the presidential debate held at Externado University, Gustavo Petro said “yes, I am continuing the peace process with the ELN”; on the part of candidate John Milton Rodriguez, he put one condition and that is that there are “obvious signs of peace on the part of the ELN.” Ingrid Betancourt proposed the resumption of the dialogues, but “with an expiration date and without it being a piñata”. Enrique Gómez was the only one who said that this process would not continue: “no more negotiating the law with criminals,” Luis Pérez said: “I support a process of national reconciliation with the ELN and with all the actors that are in conflict in Colombia.”

In the case of Federico “Fico” Gutierrez, in his government program he does not talk about negotiating agreements with any group. On the contrary, it proposes a plan to address them with military and judicial strategies.

On the part of candidate Sergio Fajardo, he has not made any pronouncement on this issue, in fact, his government program only refers to the fact that he “commits to implementing the peace agreements”, but, at no point, does not point to any possibility of negotiation with any armed group.

This point in the negotiations with the ELN has been an important factor, for political parties to decide which candidate to support, for the next presidential elections to be held on May 29. The Democratic Center, Liberal Party, among others, have expressed the will with these negotiations to determine its accession.

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