Colombia Accepts Rebel Group's Proposal To Allow Independent Probe Into Alleged Drug Links

Colombia Accepts Rebel Group’s Proposal to Allow Independent Probe Into Alleged Drug Links COLOMBIA Colombia Colombian President Gustavo Petro accepted a proposal by the country’s largest rebel group to allow an independent commission to investigate its alleged links to drug trafficking, removing a key obstacle that derailed peace talks last year, the Associated Press reported. The proposal came in a Jan. 20 video by Antonio Garcia, leader of the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group, who said the rebels impose a tax on cocaine traders but do not run trafficking routes or cocaine labs. Garcia challenged the government to authorize an independent verification process. While accepting the proposal on Sunday, Petro said the body verifying the claims should be “scientific and independent of governments” and deliver its findings to the United Nations. He also urged the ELN to support efforts to replace coca crops in the northeastern Catatumbo region. The move comes weeks after Colombia and the United States agreed to joint military and intelligence action against the country’s criminal groups. Petro has long accused the ELN leadership of being “drug traffickers dressed up as guerrilla fighters,” and this allegation has led to stalled peace talks during the first two years of his administration. Talks collapsed last year after the ELN launched an offensive in Catatumbo that killed dozens and displaced more than 50,000 people. Founded in the early 1960s, the ELN has about 5,000 fighters in Colombia and neighboring Venezuela. Its influence has expanded along the Venezuelan border since another major Colombian guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), disbanded in 2017 following a peace deal. The ELN said in January it would like to work toward a “national accord” to resume negotiations, but Petro has insisted talks will only restart if the group abandons drug trafficking. Earlier this month, Colombia’s most powerful criminal group, the Gaitanist Army of Colombia (EGC), suspended peace talks after reports that authorities would target its top leader. Observers noted that the renewed US-Colombia push complicates Petro’s “Total Peace” strategy, which seeks negotiated settlements with armed groups.