COLOMBIA ELECTION SURPRISE - Oread Daily

The smaller of Colombia's two leftist guerrilla armies has decided

to take part in elections, an unprecedented move for the group, the

local press reported Thursday. The National Liberation Army, or ELN,

which has some 6,000 fighters and has been waging civil war for four

decades, is seeking to participate in a coalition along with three

small leftist parties. Milton Hernandez, a member of the ELN

leadership, said the rebel group "would form a coalition with the

Democratic Pole, the Social and Political Front and the Democratic

Alternative." "We have decided to participate in the elections."

Hernandez's remarks were apparently made at a meeting with Spanish

intellectuals last December. The ELN spokesman hailed what he

called an "historic opportunity" for the triumph in Colombia of "a

government that is democratic in character, a government of

political transition between the state and the guerrillas."

Hernandez also outlined an agenda for the potential coalition based

on recognition that peace can come only through negotiations and on

opposition to the re-election of Uribe. He presented five key

points.

1. No to Plan Colombia

2. No the ALCA (Area of Free Commerce for the Américas)

3. Yes to a political solution negotiated between the

government and the insurgency

4. No to the current fiscal reform and privatization project of

the Colombian State

5. No to the re-election of Uribe

The statement left two key points unclear. First, whether the ELN

will lay down its arms and become a political group or if it is

trying to support the cited (hypothetical) candidate from its armed

position. And second, whether the three groups of the democratic

left he mentioned are disposed to accept its (the rebel band's)

support.

Colombia's larger leftist insurgent group, the Revolutionary Armed

Forces of Colombia (FARC), has rejected both the idea of talks with

the government and participation in elections. Sources: EFE, El

Tiempo (Bogotá)

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