The Peace Delegation of the Colombian Government announced the release of the 26 individuals who, until December 2023, had been reported and confirmed as victims of kidnapping with economic motives by Colombia’s self-proclaimed National Liberation Army (ELN). Through a statement, the ELN’s Central Command confirmed the release of each individual on Thursday, in compliance with the agreements established on February 26, 2024, with the Colombian government.

These releases occurred despite tensions surrounding the negotiations between the ELN and the Colombian government on February 20, when the ELN unilaterally decided to freeze the peace talks. The ELN claimed that the Colombian government had committed actions that violated the agreements at the negotiating table with the ELN delegation.

Despite these tensions, on February 26, the ELN announced on X (formerly Twitter) that negotiations with the Colombian government would continue their regular cycle in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela between April 8 and 22. In this regard, Vera Grabe, the chief negotiator for the Colombian government, emphasized that the two had to make commitments to continue with the negotiations and reach mutual agreements.

Originally, the ELN was a nationalist movement influenced by the Cuban revolution, focusing on kidnapping, extortion, and attacking oil infrastructure. Although it avoided drug trafficking for decades, in recent years the ELN has become deeply involved in the international drug trade. With over 5,000 members—including networks of militias infiltrated among the civilian population—the ELN operates between Colombia and Venezuela, with different objectives in each country. While in Colombia the ELN has waged an armed revolution against the state. In Venezuela it is more of a paramilitary force supporting the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

After holding peace negotiations with five different governments without reaching a final agreement, the ELN began official peace talks with the government of Colombian President Gustavo Petro in November 2022. This initiative is in line with the peace policy established by the Total Peace Law promoted by Petro. The law allows the government to negotiate peace agreements with organized armed groups operating outside the law to achieve a stable and lasting peace in the country, which has struggled with more than five decades of non-international armed conflict.

There is currently a ceasefire between the Columbian government and the ELN, which was just recently renewed on February 5. The agreement extended the existing ceasefire by 180 days. International Crisis Group commented that the six-month bilateral ceasefire, if successful, will mark the “longest bilateral ceasefire ever concluded with a guerrilla group.”