Colombia signs cease-fire deal with last guerrilla group
BOGOTA — Colombia’s government and last remaining major rebel group signed a bilateral cease-fire Monday ahead of Pope Francis’ visit this week, an agreement seen as a significant step toward negotiating a permanent peace deal.
The deal struck in Quito, Ecuador, where talks with the National Liberation Army, or ELN, have been taking place since February, goes into effect Oct. 1. It runs through Jan. 12 and can be renewed if both sides agree.
Under the cease-fire, the rebels agree to suspend attacks on infrastructure, kidnappings and recruitment of minors. In exchange the government has vowed to boost protection for social leaders who have recently come under attack and develop a program that would provide humanitarian aid to rebels, among other measures.
Reconciliation is expected to be a central theme of the trip by Francis, who has lobbied for an end to Colombia’s decades-old civil conflict and who is fulfilling a promise to visit if peace was made with the much larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.