Colombia’s ELN Rebels Call for National Accord as Pressure Mounts From Bogotá and Washington

BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA

Colombia’s largest remaining rebel organization has called for a “national accord” to resolve the country’s political and social conflicts, even as it faces the growing likelihood of coordinated military action by the Colombian and U.S. governments.

In a statement published Monday on its social media account, the National Liberation Army, known by its Spanish acronym ELN, said it hopes to work with Colombia’s next government following elections later this year to design agreements aimed at reducing poverty, protecting fragile ecosystems and dismantling the drug economy in rural regions. The group framed the proposal as a pathway to easing decades of violence and political polarization in the South American nation.

The appeal comes amid intensifying pressure on the ELN, which has seen its position weakened by shifting regional dynamics and renewed security cooperation between Bogotá and Washington. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has accused the group of abandoning its ideological roots and functioning instead as “drug traffickers dressed up as guerrilla fighters,” a characterization that underscores the government’s hardening stance.

Reports in recent weeks indicate that Colombia and the United States are exploring options for joint operations against the ELN, particularly targeting its cross-border infrastructure. Those discussions gained momentum after U.S. forces captured Venezuela’s former president Nicolás Maduro earlier this month in a pre-dawn operation and transferred him to the United States to face drug trafficking charges. U.S. prosecutors allege that Maduro provided protection to the ELN inside Venezuelan territory and collaborated with the group in cocaine trafficking networks.

Since that operation, Colombian officials have signaled a renewed effort to undermine the ELN’s safe havens across the border in Venezuela, long viewed as a strategic rear base for the group. Colombian Interior Minister Armando Benedetti said last week that President Petro and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed the ELN and its alleged role in international drug trafficking during a phone call that helped ease recent tensions between the two leaders.

According to Benedetti, the conversation included the possibility of coordinated actions against the rebel group. Speaking to Colombian radio, he said the ELN’s vulnerability lies in its practice of retreating into camps in Venezuela, arguing that such movements present opportunities for military strikes.

Petro reinforced that message on Monday, saying the ELN must abandon drug trafficking and the recruitment of minors if it wants any chance of reviving peace negotiations. He also warned the group to dismantle its camps in Venezuela or face “joint actions,” a phrase widely interpreted as a reference to coordinated operations involving Colombia, the United States and potentially Venezuelan authorities.

Peace talks between the Colombian government and the ELN were suspended last year after the group launched a major offensive in the northeastern Catatumbo region, a volatile area near the Venezuelan border. The fighting displaced more than 50,000 people and dealt a serious blow to Petro’s broader peace agenda, which sought to negotiate settlements with all armed groups still operating in the country.

Founded in the 1960s by students and labor activists inspired by the Cuban revolution, the ELN has outlasted other leftist insurgencies and remains a significant armed force. It is estimated to have around 5,000 fighters operating across Colombia and Venezuela, financing its activities largely through drug trafficking, extortion and control of illegal mining operations.

While the group’s call for a national accord signals an attempt to reframe itself as a political actor rather than a purely military one, the timing suggests it is also responding to mounting military and diplomatic pressure. With Bogotá and Washington signaling closer cooperation and less tolerance for cross-border sanctuaries, the ELN faces a narrowing window to influence the terms of any future engagement.