By Patricia Grogg
HAVANA, May 8 2006 (IPS)

The insurgent National Liberation Army (ELN) in Colombia is “for the time being” not considering a ceasefire during the May 28 elections, in which conservative President Álvaro Uribe is seeking re-election.

“There is no reason to prompt us to do something similar to what we did last April,” Antonio García told IPS in an exclusive interview. García is the military commander of the leftwing armed organisation, which has been participating in exploratory talks with the Colombian government since December.

The 50-year-old member of the ELN’s central command spoke to IPS after already having packed his bags to return to his guerrilla camp in Colombia, after his third round of talks with Colombian government delegate Luis Carlos Restrepo, from April 25-28 in Havana.

Although he has the reputation of being a “hardliner,” Commander García has participated for years in the ELN’s peace initiatives, and was cautious when speaking about his talks with Restrepo, the Uribe administration’s high commissioner for peace.

He began by stating that the peace process is still in the “exploratory phase,” because “the government has yet to clarify whether it is really interested in planning seriously for a political solution to the conflict.” The government, in fact, has never even “formally” recognised the existence of the conflict.

“This means we have to keep a certain tactful distance, until we can see clearly whether or not there is the possibility of moving towards a negotiated solution. We won’t risk going at a headlong pace with this government, until it is clear that they really want to make progress in that direction,” he said.

The late-April round of talks failed to produce any concrete agreements, or even a definite date for a fourth round, which in any case would not take place before the May 28 elections. But it was confirmed that the political status granted to García and two other members of the ELN who participated in the talks would remain valid for the duration of the peace process.

As a result of the second round of talks in February, the Uribe administration granted the ELN delegates political status that allowed García to travel to Medellín, the capital of the Colombian department (province) of Antioquía, where he met with trade union, community and religious leaders, students and other sectors of civil society, from Apr. 17-21.

“We stayed at the Peace House, where security was good. The diplomatic corps was also there,” said García. But that doesn’t mean that “the right conditions exist” for him to carry out political work in public, he added. “To believe otherwise would be naïve,” he emphasised.

The Peace House initiative came into being last year, precisely in order to enable the guerrilla group to meet with broad sectors of society, as part of a consultation process.

The third round of talks led to a mutual commitment to study documents drawn up during recent months, as a basis for moving towards “what could be” the design of eventual formal peace talks, said García. “The big decisions will be taken in that area,” he stated.

But there can be no results until there is a clear plan for the agenda to be discussed, he insisted. “That’s why progress is so slow. And the next phase, to design the process and the agenda, is highly complex, because it depends on what the two ultimate peace aims are, as seen by the government and by the insurgent movement. The way in which society is going to participate must also be defined,” he pointed out.

García said that Bogotá continued to advocate a peace plan in which peace was understood only in terms of ending armed confrontation, but that “designing a process that only achieves demobilisation and disarmament won’t work,” in his opinion.

“In our view, the conflict is multi-faceted; it is social, economic, political and military, and the road towards a political solution has to address the root causes. There has to be commitment from the State that reforms are needed, real changes in social, economic and political structures,” he underlined.

García pointed out that one of Colombia’s main problems is the unequal distribution of wealth. Colombian society excludes large segments of people and is unjust, and the State fails to address or provide for people’s basic needs. That is what has sparked this crisis, he said.

According to World Bank figures, the richest 20 percent of the Colombian population receives 60 percent of the national income, whereas in a country such as Sweden, that segment of society receives 34 percent of total income.

Furthermore, poverty is on the rise. In 1995, 60 percent of the population lived below the poverty line, compared to 67 percent today.

In urban areas, where three-quarters of Colombians live, approximately 18 percent of the economically active population is unemployed.

After his meetings in Medellín, García came to the conclusion that a “novel design,” along with “new governance” processes, were emerging at local and regional levels. These could contribute, together with the peace process, to generating mechanisms of political participation that would support the democratisation of the country, and make that democracy viable.

As for the possible impact of the election outcome on the peace process, García pointed out that Colombian politics are highly unstable. Uribe’s popularity in the opinion polls has begun to fall, while the choice of candidates has widened. “The elections are in less than a month, and the trend reflected by the polls indicates dissatisfaction with government policies,” he said.

Interest in alternative electoral options is increasing. “If the Democratic Pole (a leftwing coalition) comes second in the elections, that would be a great success in itself, because it would show that there is another political force in Colombia which may be decisive in the future, whether or not Uribe wins,” he said.

If Uribe does win, the ELN will continue to work for peace, “whether or not Uribe wants to,” García said. “His behaviour will indicate whether or not he wants to go on with it. Meanwhile, we will continue to work at Peace House, talking to people, to keep on connecting with society,” he stated.

The pathway that the ELN is following does not rule out armed struggle, nor does it indicate its failure, the guerrilla leader said. “Until a process of democratisation that can take Colombia towards a future of peace and transformation is up and running, the insurgent movement will not disappear. It is the only means of criticising the establishment,” he stated.

The ELN is the second largest rebel movement in the country, after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). According to military sources, it comprises about 4,500 guerrillas, making it far smaller than the FARC, which has anywhere between 18,000 and 46,000 members (the large figure comes from Canadian researcher James Brittain).

“The ELN is a political, military and social project, so simply counting the number of men under arms is a mistake. Our essential strength is in our ideas,” said García, who added that the process is open to other proposals.

“Perhaps the FARC can put forward other scenarios, from another logical point of view, which might be compatible, later on, with the viewpoint we have been developing in the ELN. That way, the country could have a peace process that is much more all-embracing,” he concluded.

Both leftist rebel groups have been battling the State since 1964. The conflict in Colombia also involves death squads, closely linked to drug trafficking, organised as the paramilitary United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC), some of which are in the process of being demobilised.

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