BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s largest remaining rebel group on Monday released five police officers kidnapped in the first week of January as it pushes for a “national agreement” to overcome the South American country’s political conflict.
The policemen were taken hostage by the National Liberation Army (ELN) while riding a bus while off duty in the northeastern region of Catatumbo on January 6.
In a social media post on Monday, Colombia’s National Institute for the Defense of Human Rights shared photos of a group of armed men in camouflage uniforms freeing police officers and said they were in good health.
“We call on armed groups to immediately release all those deprived of their liberty,” the Office of the Human Rights Defender said on social platform X.
The ELN has an estimated 5,000 fighters in Colombia and Venezuela.
Peace talks between the Marxist rebels and the Colombian government were suspended last year after the National Liberation Army launched an offensive in Colombia’s Catatumbo region, forcing more than 50,000 people to flee their homes.
Last week, the group said in a statement that after Colombia’s elections this year, it hopes to work with the country’s new government on agreements aimed at eradicating poverty, protecting ecosystems and “overcoming” the drug trade in rural areas.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro responded by saying the group’s leadership must abandon drug trafficking and the recruitment of minors if it wanted to resume peace talks.
The ELN is accused of profiting from the drug trade and blowing up oil pipelines in eastern Colombia. The organization was founded in the early 1960s and was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department in 1997.
Colombian Interior Minister Armando Benedetti said a recent phone call between the Colombian and U.S. presidents discussed the possibility of joint action against the ELN, which could help defuse tensions between the two countries.
The National Liberation Army has expressed its willingness to join forces with other Colombian rebel groups to defend against U.S. attacks.
