The ceasefire unilaterally decreed on 23 December last by the National Liberation Army (ELN) towards the Colombian Armed Forces expires today, according to the insurgent force.

In a communiqué issued at the end of last year, the armed group warned that the National Directorate had instructed all its structures not to carry out offensive military operations against state troops from 00:00 local time on 23 December until 00:00 on 3 January, on the occasion of the Christmas holidays.

Following the announcement, the government delegation in peace talks with the guerrillas welcomed the gesture and considered it a good omen for the continuity of negotiations this year.

Although the ELN is holding talks with government representatives, the ceasefire that was in effect for one year expired on 3 August 2024 due to the parties’ inability to reach an agreement to extend it.

As a condition for progress at the talks, the insurgency made several demands of the government, one of which was to be removed from the list of Organised Armed Groups, known here as GAOS, to which the government responded that such a measure would require the passing of a law and that there was no appropriate environment for this in Congress.

Since then, the negotiations have suffered setbacks. On 16 September, for example, the government declared the peace talks with the ELN closed following an attack on a military unit that left three people dead.

The bomb attack on the military base in Arauca (east), which also injured another 25 soldiers, was claimed by the ELN’s Eastern War Front.

However, after the ELN requested a meeting, the two sides met in November in Caracas and agreed to maintain contact.