Tomorrow, January 12, dialogue between the Colombian government and the
guerrilla group ELN (Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional) in Quito, Ecuador
resumes. The Archbishop of Cali, His Exc. Mgr. Darío de Jesús Monsalve Mejía, member of the Catholic Church Commission who is following the dialogue between the government and ELN has proposed the application of the International Humanitarian Law in order to move forward with dialogue.
The proposal was made by the Archbishop because the situation on the eve of the meeting, is still tense becuase the guerrillas have not released former MP Odín Sanchez, seized in April last year.
The release of Sánchez had been considered by the Government the minimum condition to officially open the negotiating table.
Despite this, the government expressed its availability for tomorrow's meeting, but has not expressed itself on the proposals to bring.
The Church is closely following the negotiations.
Mgr. Monsalve Mejia also suggested that the venue of the dialogue is to be moved from Quito to a location in Colombia, for reasons of logistics and proximity because the presidential elections will be held in February in Ecuador.