Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 3rd Jan. UN Secretary General Anyonio Guterres on Sunday issued a statement by the Spokesperson office in New York said that the agreement between the Colombian Government and the five largest armed groups there provides “renewed hope for comprehensive peace” into the new year.
According to media reports the breakthrough was announced on 1 January by the first-ever leftist president Gustavo Petro, who tweeted that he was seeking “total peace”, in the light of continuing violence, after the historic UN-supported peace deal with the leadership of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia militant group in 2016.
The statement said that pact ended decades of conflict with FARC, but did not include other dissent factions, who failed to demobilize as a result of the peace agreement.
President Petro said that the bilateral ceasefire deal, including ELN rebels, the Second Marquetalia, the Central General Staff, the AGC group and the Self Defence Forces of the Sierra Nevada, would run for six months, through to the end of this June, with the possibility of extending it “depending on progress” the statement said.
He said there would be a “national and international verification mechanism” to monitor and ensure the new ceasefire agreement.
UN spokesman in a statement stated that “The Secretary-General trusts that adherence to these commitments will reduce violence and the suffering of conflict-affected communities”, said the statement from António Guterres, “while helping to build confidence in ongoing dialogues.”
Mr. Guterres reaffirmed “the support of the United Nations to Colombia’s efforts to achieve full and lasting peace.”
President Petro a former rebel fighter himself who has been in democratic politics since the early 1990s was elected to the presidency last June, pledged to kickstart negotiations to make the comprehensive peace deal a reality, Mr. Guterres said.
Head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, told the Security Council in October that expectations were running high that progress could be made.
Carlos Ruiz Massieu told the Coiuncil “I am certainly confident that Colombia can demonstrate to the world, once again, that there is no better alternative to ending conflicts than through dialogue”.
He welcomed the Government’s commitment to bolstering the Comprehensive System for Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition, and its support for the mechanism established for investigating missing persons.
The news reports suggested 10,000 militants from other armed groups, have continued to be locked in deadly disputes, destabilizing the entire country, despite the demobilization of FARC fighters and entry into democratic politics in 2017.
ELN, leading the last recognized insurgency in the country, according to reports, has been negotiating with the Government since November. It announced a short-term unilateral ceasefire in mid-December.
Mr. Massieu welcomed President Petro’s announcement, said the UN supported “all efforts” to reduce violence, that would protect vulnerable communities still affected by conflict, and help build a lasting peace, in a tweet on Sunday
