Alfonso Prada acknowledges that the Petro government must act with caution – government – politics

The bilateral moratorium declared by President Gustavo Petro with five criminal groups was aborted with one of them, when The National Liberation Army said on Tuesday that it had not reached any agreement with the executive branch to suspend the harassment.

The Central Command of the guerrillas said that “the NLA delegation to the talks did not discuss any proposal for a bilateral ceasefire with the government of Gustavo Petro, and therefore there is no agreement on this matter yet.” “It is only in line with what was discussed and agreed upon at the dialogue table in which we participate. A unilateral government decision cannot be accepted as an agreement,” he added.

(next to: Will the government pay a political cost after the failure of the ceasefire with the National Liberation Army?)

According to the Minister of the Interior, Alfonso Prada, when President Petro reported on the agreement with the Eln, as well as with the dissidents of Farc, Segunda Marquetalia, the “clan del Golfo” and the MF of the Sierra Nevada, It did so because the combatants “raised on several occasions the importance of advancing on a bilateral moratorium”.

For example, he pointed out that on December 19, when they declared a unilateral moratorium, they asked the government to consider, according to their will and peace, a bilateral moratorium.

(Also read: The government suspends a bilateral cessation decree with the National Liberation Army and calls for a truce)

Prada commented, “Under this understanding, the Colombian government issued a bilateral cessation.”

But this shows that there was no such agreement, as the national government has stated on several occasions.

This situation ended with the suspension of the decree that allowed the cease-fire between the General Forces and the National Liberation Army, and thus the military offensive will continue. In addition, Prada, which is also a government spokesperson, He acknowledged the need for caution and caution.

“After evaluating the events of the past 48 hours and the past 50 years, we realize that these processes are characterized by a very high degree of complexity, and that we must proceed very carefully, with reason and caution, but in no way should we exclude that there is a reaction from the opposite party that must To be dealt with, and to be answered in some way

(In the context of: The NLA denies that it has agreed to a bilateral ceasefire with the government.)

A possible bilateral ceasefire will now be assessed during the dialogue between the government and the combatants, which will begin its second round in Mexico in the coming weeks. Right now, the government has asked the guerrillas to consider a truce for the welfare of the communities.

Matthew Garcia
Political writing