In Colombia, new peace talks have begun between the Colombian government and the country’s last remaining leftist guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army, or ELN. Colombia’s first-ever leftist President Gustavo Petro, who is a former member of the guerrilla group M-19, pushed for the negotiations to resume for the first time since 2019 in an effort to end nearly 60 years of conflict. This is Danilo Rueda, Colombia’s high peace commissioner.

Danilo Rueda: “We believe that respect for differences unites us toward a common purpose: respect for life, respect for freedom and respect for the changes necessary to overcome a set of rights issues and inequalities that have been denied to so many sectors of the Colombian society. And this internal exercise that we are beginning to develop is what gives us certainty.”