1) What do you think has been the problem of governments in the country trying to carry out a peace process with the ELN?
AG: In politics, beliefs do not work, but reflection on reality. It is a historical problem, perhaps the Colombian oligarchy learned from the Spaniards when the conquest on American soil, which plotted agreements, to seek the opportunity to attack by surprise, and the peace offered the stab wound that killed. Equally in the violence of the 1950s, the liberal oligarchy and the conservative oligarchy made a peace pact when they felt threatened by the liberal guerrillas of the plains who took another path. They’ve been kicking the “coup of state,” called “coup of opinion” by Master Echandía, sowing up several thousand liberal guerrillas, and the monopoly of each governing party for four years, for more than 16 years, was distributed. Only two parties would take turns the government, excluding everyone else. Then they would kill the already energized liberal guerrilla leaders: Dumar Aljure and Guadalupe Salcedo. So exclusion and political persecution became political and practical state policy and a social and political insurgency would arise. From then on until now that hasn’t changed.
The State has confused peace policy with pacification, which is the same demobilization and disarmament, without changing anything in politics or in the life of society. More than half a dozen demobilizations and disarmaments are already going, and everything remains the same, the only thing the state offers in exchange for the demobilization and delivery of weapons is that the “arrows in arms” leave and return to “legal” life, can come to give some gifts: house, car and scholarship, and some political participation; but the country equals itself in political exclusion, of social persecution, and zero transformations that give social justice and equity, a reality that forces struggle the communities that continue to be persecuted, judicialized imprisoned and- Oh, it’s just that. There are the stats.
It wouldn’t make sense to turn around, as it would be up to take the guns again. It will be said that in a long time of more than 60 years, the guerrillas have become old and the changes will not be achieved, so it is a struggle that goes beyond one or two generations, it is what we have learned and prepared for that. In El Salvador, in Guatemala and other latitudes there were demobilizations and everything remained the same or worse, it is not only in our own territory.
2) What is your reading in front of all the specified points so far with Gustavo Petro’s government?
AG: The agreements on Agenda, greater clarity in the Participation of the Society, and the importance of transformations for peace-building were improved. That’s on paper, but in the small day-to-day and medium-term agreements the government doesn’t comply. We have not been removed from the GAO list, which means we are considered criminals or criminals, not fighting political causes, the ceasefire is not fulfilled, the military offensive plan of the military forces along with the paramilitaries against the ELN continues, they follow the intelligence operations and annihilation plans of the command, etc.
(3) What should be borne in mind that if the peace process is implemented with the eln it is definitely not broken in the coming years.
AG: In politics, futures are not working, the future is always the field of the correlation of forces, of the balance sheets of political or military forces. The only thing that guarantees a stable peace agreement is the real transformations for Colombians, who bring social justice, equity, democracy, better live for the majorities. That the change of reality is true and that the majority of the country can express themselves and their voices be taken into account when things go wrong, it cannot depend on a parliament that legislates for the powerful, peace implies a political process that people in decision-making, that is a democracy participatory. We are blown up of elitist democracy.
(4) What should be taken of the account to improve the conditions of all political and ideological prisoners in the country ' s prisons.
AG: First of all recognizing them as such, the government still goes on to say that there are no political prisoners in Colombia, thanks to the ICRC’s interpretation of the nature of the armed conflict in the country and in the world. That “sweet” of the ICRC came out and will be a great political debt of that Agency. The living conditions and existence of all prisoners must change, as they live in inhumane conditions. A real peace process is known because political persecution must cease, which is synthesized in the political prisoners, which is why we say that one of the characteristics of a government that claims to have an offer of peace is to free the political prisoners, so that it has not been given little we believe that we are in a true peace process. It means that political persecution will continue, and to some extent, in the midst of an ongoing peace process, they are real political hostages.
5) Why do you say that the government is trying to destabilize the ELN’s fronts?
AG: It is not destabilization, but non-compliance with agreements by the government. There is a signed agreement where it was agreed not to conduct intelligence operations against the counterpart, we stopped, but the government followed. That is why there are operations that did not stop through intelligence agents who were infiltrated into Nariño’s structure, to carry out operations to kill commands in the ELN, who, when the main infiltrator was discovered, took refuge in that region with other infiltrators and sought protection from the military forces and the government, and then sells it as a political process of regional dialogues. The same types have created another for the military structures that act in conjunction with the armed forces. The government is violating agreements, they know it. There’s evidence that’s infiltrated, their plans are unveiled. And, in a table of dialogues, when the counterpart does not comply with agreements, we already know what can happen.
6) I have considered a delegate to the dialogue table to carry out his ideas.
AG: I have been as head of office in dialogues with 5 governments, rather in the majority. I know how these dialogues work, their logics, their tactics, their tricks and tricks. I wrote a book about this process when Santos, there’s a comment on how it works in a tablet, for those who haven’t had that opportunity or experience. I carry my ideas, I share them in the Command, where we build politics collectively, and from there they go to the Delegation in the Bureau. In the ELN nothing strategic moves that do not go through collective scrutiny of the Central Command. Now, being the First Commander of the ELN, I have global and comprehensive tasks and responsibilities, one of them is the issue of peace, but not only that.
7) Are people still held for economic purposes within their ranks?
AG: We don’t have such retentions, the ones that were all freed up. Agreement fulfilled. But the government keeps winging.
What should change in law enforcement to improve violations in the farthest territories?
AG: It’s none of my business, it’s only about what I do or stop doing the ELN.