2018.04.2515:49:00UTC+00COLOMBIA: Government Expects New Ceasefire With ELN Before Elections

Gustavo Bell, the head of the Colombian delegation in the peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN), said that he expects a new bilateral ceasefire before the first round of the presidential elections, scheduled for May 27.

"Our goal is that before the first round we have agreed to a new bilateral ceasefire," Bell told reporters in southwestern Colombia.

Earlier this month, the Episcopal Conference of Colombia and a United Nations mission launched the process to evaluate the previous 101-day ceasefire, between October 2017 and January 2018.

However, the Colombian government and the ELN are looking for a new headquarters to continue with the peace talks after Ecuador decided to stop hosting the dialogue and withdrawing its sponsorship. Bell expects that before this weekend the new headquarters of the peace talks should be known.