FILE PHOTO: Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN) commanders Pablo Beltran and Antonio Garcia attend a news conference, in Caracas, Venezuela October 4, 2022. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/File Photo
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels will respond with military force to any break in their ceasefire with the government, leader Antonio Garcia told Reuters, predicting that the current stage of peace talks will end in 2025.
President Gustavo Petro restarted negotiations with the group, founded in 1964 by radical Catholic priests, as part of his bid to reach "total peace" in the South American country, whose six-decade conflict has killed at least 450,000 people.
