BOGOTA: Colombia’s government has agreed to a six-month ceasefire with the five largest armed groups operating in the country, President Gustavo Petro announced on New Year’s Eve.

The truce was the main objective of Petro’s “total peace” policy, which aims to end the armed conflict that has persisted in the country even after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) dissolved in 2017.

The armed groups still operating in Colombia, the world’s largest cocaine producer, are locked in deadly disputes over drug trafficking revenues and other illegal businesses, according to the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (Indepaz), an independent think tank.

“We have agreed to a bilateral ceasefire with the ELN, the Second Marquetalia, the Central General Staff, the AGC and the Self-Defence Forces of the Sierra Nevada from January 1 to June 30, 2023, extendable depending on progress in the negotiations,” Petro tweeted. He said there would be a national and international verification mechanism for monitoring progress under what he called the “bold” accord.

Peace talks had been suspended under the government of Ivan Duque (2018-2022), but after Petro came to power on August 7, leading the country’s first leftist government, he resumed negotiations in November.

Up to now the efforts to negotiate with Colombia’s various armed groups — with their combined total of more than 10,000 fighters — have failed to end a spiral of violence engulfing the country. Indepaz recorded nearly 100 massacres last year.

The National Liberation Army (ELN), the last recognised insurgency in the country, has been negotiating with the government since November. On Dec 19 it announced a unilateral ceasefire to run until Jan 2. The government then called on other groups to join the truce.

Published in Dawn, january 2th, 2023