UN envoy urges armed groups in Colombia to engage in peace talks

Carlos Ruiz Massieu (L, Front), the UN secretary-general's special representative and head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, briefs a Security Council meeting on Colombia at the UN headquarters in New York, on April 13, 2023. The top UN envoy for Colombia, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, on Thursday called on armed groups in Colombia to engage in and promote dialogues with the aim of reducing violence and consolidating peace in the country. (Loey Felipe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, April 13 (Xinhua) -- The top UN envoy for Colombia, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, on Thursday called on armed groups in Colombia to engage in and promote dialogues with the aim of reducing violence and consolidating peace in the country.

The tragic loss of human lives in recent events in Colombia highlighted the urgent need for the parties to make progress in negotiating a bilateral ceasefire, Massieu told a UN Security Council meeting on Colombia.

He pointed out that after six decades of armed conflict, "an environment conducive to peace will not be created through more bloodshed among Colombians, quite the contrary."

"In this regard, I urge all illegal armed actors not to waste the opportunity presented by the bold pursuit of peace through dialogue," said Massieu, the UN secretary-general's special representative and head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia.

Massieu briefed the Security Council about the ongoing peace dialogue processes between the Colombian government and some of the armed groups.

He said dialogue and ceasefire process is underway between the government and the group self-identified as Central High Command-FARC, talks which he described as "noteworthy."

According to Massieu, talks between the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) also continued to advance, despite an attack by alleged members of the ELN in northeast Colombia on March 29 which resulted in the deaths of at least nine soldiers, raising concerns that the incident might potentially jeopardize the negotiations.

He said that after the first two cycles of dialogue in Venezuela and Mexico, the next round of talks between the Colombian government and the ELN will take place in Cuba next month.

Massieu expressed the hope that the new round of talks will "yield additional results in terms of violence reduction and the participation of society in peacebuilding."

Carlos Ruiz Massieu, the UN secretary-general's special representative and head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, briefs a Security Council meeting on Colombia at the UN headquarters in New York, on April 13, 2023. The top UN envoy for Colombia, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, on Thursday called on armed groups in Colombia to engage in and promote dialogues with the aim of reducing violence and consolidating peace in the country. (Loey Felipe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)