✅ Guerrilla del ELN libera a soldado secuestrado en Arauca

The guerrilla group Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) released a kidnapped soldier in the department of Arauca, which borders Venezuela, as reported by the Colombian Defensoría del Pueblo on Monday.

A humanitarian mission from the Defensoría del Pueblo and the Catholic Church received soldier Oswaldo Ríos Vinasco, 21 years old, in a rural area in the department of Arauca. He had been kidnapped by members of the ELN’s Domingo Laín Sáenz front since August 20th.

«The call continues to be for all illegal armed groups to show goodwill that allows for the achievement of peace, particularly those armed groups that are in the process of negotiating with the National Government,» said the Ombudsman, Carlos Camargo, in a statement.

The organization specified that the soldier «belongs to the High Mountain battalion based in the city of Tuluá, in the Valle del Cauca (southwest Colombia), and was in the municipality of Fortul (Arauca) when he was detained by the ELN. He is currently being transported to the capital of the Arauca department in order to assess his health condition.»

The Colombian government and the ELN started a bilateral ceasefire on August 3rd for six months as part of the peace negotiations that resumed in November of last year, in an attempt to end more than six decades of internal armed conflict.

On Monday, August 14th, the parties began a fourth cycle of negotiations in Caracas, Venezuela, where they expressed their focus on the «participation of civil society in the construction of peace.»