Minister of Justice of Colombia, Nestor Ivan Osuna, took part this Wednesday in a round table for peace talks between the government and the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) for introduce a penal policy reform bill and assured that “the achievement of peace is the very justification” of the government of President Gustavo Petro.

Osuna explained in his speech at the Peace Dialogue Table that the Government of Colombia is committed to accepting “from a purely prison model to a resocializing and restorative one”, According to a statement released jointly as part of the meetings taking place at the Inter-American Conference on Social Security, located in the south of Mexico City.

“For the government, what is happening and what will happen in this table is an absolute priority, because The search for and achievement of peace is the very justification of this government.” emphasized.

The justice minister is the first senior government official to attend the table but not “will be the last” noted Otti Patiño, head of the government delegation.

For his part, Pablo Beltran, head of the ELN Dialogue delegation, confirmed that Minister Osuna’s assistance could help “look for synergies between change plans proposed by this Government and the work of the Council”.

However, Beltran stressed that the current government inherited “dramatic situation of unconstitutionality and violation of accumulated rights” in Colombian prisons.

Peace Dialogue Table in Mexico City, which began on February 13, expected to last four weeksone more than originally thought.

The key point in the negotiations will be to achieve ceasefire agreement by both sides, but they will also discuss the participation of society in building peace, which has not yet been explored.

Negotiations between the Colombian government and the ELN, which were interrupted for four years after they started in 2017, relaunched November 2022 in Caracas sponsored by Cuba, Norway and Venezuela as guarantor countries.