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COLOMBIA-CONFLICT-REBELS-KIDNAPPING-ELN
Colombian Marxist guerrillas release hostage after almost a year
BOGOTA, Dec 28, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Colombia’s last remaining Marxist rebel
group, the ELN on Thursday released a hostage held for almost a year, the
country’s ombudsman’s office said on Twitter.
Engineer Rafael Andres Riano Ravelo was 41 when he was captured close to
Colombia’s border with Ecuador on January 13.
His release comes during a 10-day Christmas truce called by the ELN and due
to last from December 23 to January 3.
Riano Ravelo, who was handed over to a humanitarian mission jointly run by
the government and the Catholic church, was one of 10 hostages the right-wing
government of President Ivan Duque believes the ELN is currently holding.
The hostage issue is one of the main stumbling blocks to kick-starting
peace talks between the government and the ELN that have been on hold since
Duque assumed office in August.
His predecessor, Juan Manuel Santos failed in a bid to sign a disarmament
deal with the ELN, similar to the one that saw FARC rebels lay down their
arms in 2016 and form a political party, before he left office.
Duque has favored a much harder line towards the leftist guerrillas and
insists that peace talks can only resume once all hostages have been released
and the ELN ceases its “criminal activities.”
The ELN, which is considered the last active rebel group in Colombia and
numbers around 1,800 fighters, has rejected those demands as “unacceptable.”
Colombia has been beset for more than half a century by a multifaceted
armed conflict mostly carried out in lawless jungle regions and involving
Marxist guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug traffickers, as well as
government forces.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0849 hrs