COLOMBIA’s new government and members of the nation’s last guerilla group took steps towards restarting peace talks after the Star went to press on Friday.

After a meeting between representatives of both sides in Havana, Colombia’s national peace commissioner Danilo Rueda said the government would take the necessary “judicial and political steps” to make peace talks possible with the National Liberation Army (ELN).

Observers consider it likely that those steps will include lifting arrest warrants for ELN negotiators who are currently living in exile in Cuba.

The administration of newly inaugurated President Gustavo Petro will engage with the ELN delegation and considers them to be legitimate representatives of the rebel group, Mr Rueda said.

“We believe that the ELN has the same desire for peace as the Colombian government,” he said in his statement. “And hope that they are listening to the many voices in different territories who are seeking a peaceful solution to this armed conflict.”

Peace talks between Colombia’s previous government and the ELN were terminated in 2019 after the rebels set off a car bomb at a police academy in Bogota and killed more than 20 cadets.

Following that incident, Colombian authorities issued arrest warrants for ELN leaders in Cuba for the peace negotiations. But Cuba refused to extradite them, arguing that doing so would compromise its status as a neutral nation in the conflict and break with diplomatic protocols.

Mr Petro has said he wants to start peace talks with the nation’s remaining armed groups in an effort to reduce violence in rural areas and bring lasting peace to the nation of 50 million people.