MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th August, 2023) The National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group is preparing an attack on Colombian Attorney General Francisco Barbosa Delgado, his office said on Tuesday, citing intelligence.
"Three sources of information, the military intelligence of the armed forces, the CTI (Technical Investigative Corps) and an official of the judicial police, which supports the Specialized Directorate against Criminal Organizations, informed that a terrorist attack was being prepared against the country's attorney general, Francisco Barbosa Delgado," the office said in a communique on X (formerly known as Twitter).
The office's sources said five senior ELN commanders met in Venezuela in July, where a group for a sniper attack on the attorney general was being prepared under the leadership of an ELN urban front leader, alias El Rolo.
"The Office of the Attorney General ... is investigating these facts to confirm the information, collect the necessary evidence and make decisions in accordance with the law," the office added.
In early July, the government of Colombia issued a decree for a temporary ceasefire with the ELN from August 3, 2023, until January 29, 2024. The decree was followed by a similar announcement from the ELN, which said a complete cessation of offensive and reconnaissance activities will be respected from July 6 to August 3, a period that is preparatory before the 180-day truce with the government agreed upon in June.
The 180-day ceasefire was reached by the government of Colombia and the ELN in early June during talks in Cuba. The next round of peace negotiations between the sides is planned to be held in Venezuela from August 14 to September 3.
The radical left ELN consists of several thousand people and is the second largest armed rebel organization in Colombia after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Colombia, the United States and the European Union designated the ELN as a terrorist organization.
The negotiation process between the government of Colombia and the ELN was launched in 2016 but stopped two years later. New rounds of negotiations between the parties were held in November-December 2022 and in March 2023 after Gustavo Petro was sworn in as the country's president.
Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela and Norway act as guarantor countries in the negotiations.
