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How significant is Colombia's ELN rebel group? ELN peace talks: What are the challenges?
(4 months later)
On Wednesday, the Colombian government announced that it would start formal peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) after more than five decades of conflict. Here, we take a closer look at the rebel group. The National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia's second-largest rebel group, has entered into formal peace talks with Colombian government negotiators.
Who are the ELN rebels? The talks are aimed at ending more than five decades of armed conflict. Here, we take a closer look at the discussions ahead.
The group was founded in 1964 and follows a Marxist-Leninist ideology. It was inspired by the Cuban revolution of 1959. Were talks not due to start last year?
One of its key leaders was Camilo Torres, a priest and pioneer of liberation theology, a radical movement within the Catholic Church especially popular in Latin America, where it emerged in response to widespread poverty and ill-treatment of ordinary people. Yes, the ELN and the government first announced their intention to start formal peace talks at a news conference on 30 March 2016.
The group is believed to have some 1,300 active fighters, according to recent government estimates. They had originally been expected to start in May 2016, but did not go ahead.
What do they want? Later, the two sides said the negotiations would start in the Ecuadorean capital, Quito, on 27 October, but that date also came and went.
The rebel group was created in the 1960s to fight Colombia's unequal distribution of land and riches. A new date was set for 7 February 2017.
Why all the delays?
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said that a precondition for the talks was the release of hostages the ELN was holding.
The ELN has long used kidnapping for ransom as a means of financing itself. It also considers the kidnapping of soldiers and police officers a legitimate tactic.
The rebels eventually agreed to free a soldier they had recently seized and former Congressman Odin Sanchez in exchange for a pardon for two of its jailed members.
The move finally paved the way for formal talks to start.
However, future delays cannot be ruled out as the ELN has been reluctant to hurry the negotiations along.
In an answer to an open letter by Colombian intellectuals asking the rebels to negotiate speedily, ELN leader Nicolas Rodriguez said that "for the ELN, setting a deadline for peace means obstructing it".
What is on the agenda?
President Santos has set his aims high. He says he wants to "achieve complete peace".
The ELN says it also wants peace but Mr Rodriguez, better known as Gabino, says he does not want the negotiations just to be between the government and the ELN but for civil society to be involved, too.
The six points on the agenda are currently rather vague. They are:
What does the ELN want?
The group was founded in 1964 and follows a Marxist-Leninist ideology.
It was inspired by the Cuban revolution of 1959 with an aim to fighting Colombia's unequal distribution of land and riches.
It feels particularly strongly that the country's oil and mineral riches should be shared among its people rather than exploited by foreign multinationals.
Over the decades, the guerrilla group has attacked large landholders and multinational companies. It has repeatedly blown up oil pipelines.Over the decades, the guerrilla group has attacked large landholders and multinational companies. It has repeatedly blown up oil pipelines.
It feels particularly strongly that Colombia's oil and mineral riches should be shared among its people rather than exploited by foreign multinationals. In the talks, its representatives are likely to call for social change to achieve more equality and for the inclusion in politics of Colombians whose voices they say have gone unheard for too long.
To finance itself it has resorted to extortion, kidnappings and drug trafficking. How big is the ELN?
Where are they most active? The ELN is believed to have fewer than 1,500 active fighters, according to intelligence reports seen by Colombian media.
The ELN has been strongest in rural areas. They are backed up by a larger number of "militants" or sympathisers who provide logistical support and back-up.
It has strongholds in the border area with Venezuela, in Casanare and Norte de Santander, and in Cauca province. Its strongholds are in rural areas in the north and on the border with Venezuela, and also in the provinces of Casanare, Norte de Santander and Cauca.
Are these the first peace talks with the ELN? The ELN is made up of regional commandos which have a certain degree of autonomy, which could make implementation of any deal hard to achieve.
No, there have been numerous attempts before. Most recently between 2002 and 2007, but they never reached a final accord. How likely are the talks to succeed?
The ELN said it wanted to restart talks when it became public that Colombia's largest rebel group, the Farc, was negotiating with the government. Both sides say they are completely committed to the negotiations succeeding.
However, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos insisted that talks with the ELN be held separately from those with the Farc. The government would like to see a deal signed before the presidential election in May 2018 but the ELN has said it will not be rushed.
He also said that the ELN would have to stop kidnapping people first. Observers of the peace process think the ELN may prove harder to negotiate with than Colombia's largest rebel group, the Farc, with whom the government signed a peace deal in November.
Why now? That is because the ELN is less hierarchical in its structure and its members are believed to be more wedded to their Marxist ideology than the Farc.
The peace talks with the Farc are on their final stretch, with the two sides hoping they can be wrapped up by the end of the year. The ELN also has not yet sworn off kidnappings for good, something the government says it will demand.
While President Santos was reluctant to include the ELN in the peace talks held with the Farc, he also knew that he could not claim to have achieved peace if he only signed a deal with the bigger group. Previous peace talks with the ELN failed. But analysts say the current talks will benefit from the experiences gained from the successful negotiations between the government and the Farc.
Many in the security forces warned that the ELN could take over regions vacated by the Farc, perpetuating the violence in those areas. What happens next?
The ELN faced being the main target of the security forces if a permanent peace deal was reached with the larger Farc rebel group. After a ceremony marking the beginning of the formal peace talks on 7 February, the two sides are due to get down to the business of negotiating on 8 February.
Its leaders also said they had been buoyed by the recent visit of the US president to Cuba, which they said showed that there had been a political shift worldwide. The opening and closing rounds are scheduled to take place in Ecuador, but the current plan is for the other rounds to take place in the other countries acting as guarantors: Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Norway and Venezuela.
What will happen next? However, the head of the government delegation has lobbied against this plan, arguing it will cause too much disruption and delay the process unnecessarily.
The two sides will meet in Ecuador to start their formal talks. Judging by the pace of the Farc peace talks, the process will not be quick.
The Farc and the government talks have been going on for more than three years and the two sides just missed a self-imposed deadline on 23 March.
However, analysts say the talks between the ELN and the government will benefit from the experiences gained in the Farc-government talks.
Also, some issues have already been covered in the exploratory talks held over the past two years.