Colombia ELN guerrilla group warns of peace talks 'crisis'

FILE PHOTO: Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, Otty Patino, head of the negotiation team of the Colombian Government, Pablo Beltran, head of leftist guerrilla group National Liberation Army (ELN) Aureliano Carbonell, ELN negotiator, pose for a group photo, as they attend a cycle of peace dialogues, during the Inter-American Conference on Social Security (CISS) in Mexico City, Mexico February 13, 2023. REUTERS/Raquel Cunha/File Photo

Colombian leftwing guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN) on Monday said peace talks with the government were in crisis due to comments made by Colombia's President Gustavo Petro.

The declaration from the ELN represents the most recent impasse in the midst of negotiations that Petro restarted with the rebel group last November as part of efforts to end its role in Colombia's almost six decades of conflict, which has left 450,000 dead.