Colombia’s government and second major rebel group begin formal peace talks

‘The government of Colombia and the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group have entered formal peace talks in an effort to end their long-time armed hostilities.
The Latin-American country’s second-largest rebel group and Bogota began their formal talks in Ecuador on Tuesday. The ELN, founded by Catholic priests, has been engaged in on-and-off preliminary talks with the government since 2014.
They hope to achieve an accord similar to the one negotiated in 2016 with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the then-largest rebel group in Colombia. That historic deal has allowed the former FARC rebels to establish a political party in exchange for laying down arms.’
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