ELN Ceasefire Could Ease Environmental Degradation in Colombia

Jun 12, 2023 | Conflict and Environment Observatory
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The new Colombian government is in the midst of an attempt to conclude its decades-long internal conflict, and a deal with the ELN forms a key part of its wider strategy. The ELN was established in 1964, initially advocating a composite communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism and liberation theology. Its early leadership focused its efforts on Colombia’s rural poor in response to high levels of societal inequalities in the country. In recent decades, the group has agreed to intermittent ceasefires and peace talks but was not part of the 2016 peace agreement between the government and FARC.