For years a ceasefire between the government of colombia and a rebel group has failed to stick. That has changed. The government agreement is with the National Liberation army known as the eln. Gustavo petro says it is part of his promise towards what he calls total peace. Will a cessation of hostilities eventually lead to a peace deal . What does it mean for communities in areas controlled by the rebels . Well discuss those issues with our guests but first this report from kathy lopez today a. Reporter president gestapo petro began his term with a promise to end ongoing battles with armed groups in colombia. It appears he is delivering on that promise with the signing of a ceasefire deal with the eln rebel group also known as the National Liberation army. Peace needs to be a reality. We need to end the era of war. Stop the development of an incoming third form of violence already present arising from illegal economies and armed groups multiplying everywhere. Reporter if the sixmonth ceasefire holds it will be the first major petro victory for petro the first major victory for petros peace plans but his critics are skeptical. That is not the way to move columbia forward. We have ancestors who shed blood for freedom, not for these insurgents to receive blessings from left groups. Reporter reporter the government says the Group Finances itself through cocaine trafficking, illegal mining, and ransoms from kidnappings. Communities in eln controlled areas say they need and deserve assurances. We call on the government to dismantle paramilitary groups in colombia by implementing whatever steps are necessary. Reporter petro is colombias first leftwing president. Before turning to politics he joined the m 19 armed group to combat suspected fraud in president ial elections. That, some say, gave him more credibility in the latest round of negotiations with the eln. We know all of colombia has Great Expectations and we come with great willingness to comply with the agreed agenda. Reporter colombia has long battled with armed groups. Particularly the farc. Revolutionary armed forces of colombia. The peace deal ended more than 50 years of civil war which killed close to a quarter of a million people. Scars remain. Particularly with continued violence in rural areas and reports of other armed groups moving into territory farc fighters left behind. President petro says the ceasefire is a significant step for colombia. Affected communities agree but say the real test is whether it will lead to a Permanent Peace agreement. Sohail lets bring in our guests in the colombia capital of bogota is jorge restrepo. In denver in the u. S. State of colorado is elizabeth dickinson, Senior Analyst for colombia and the International Crisis group. Her focus is on the dynamics of armed conflict. Also, laura bonilla, Deputy Director of the peace and reconciliation foundation. Ordinary people around the world here that an armed group and a government have decided to talk to each other. They have laid down arms. Peace talks are ongoing, possibly lasting peace. No more civilians getting killed, no more innocence being kidnapped. Can we breathe a sigh of relief here now with this agreement between the colombian government and the eln . Yes indeed. This is a sigh of relief. A temporary respite. It is more of a truce than a definite and permanent ceasefire in the sense that it will allow the government and this Guerrilla Group to conduct negotiations. A group that has increased over the past seven months significantly its violent actions. And although it has reduced also significantly the kidnapping and terrorist actions, it still conducts very many acts of violence that affect at least four rather large regions of the country. Elizabeth this is an and norm us an enormous win. Negotiators can start to discuss what it would look like to come to some sort of agreement. We have to be clear about what the ceasefire is and is not. It is related to clashes between the eln armed group and government forces. The vast majority of violence civilians in eln experience today is not related to that specific type of violence. It is more closely related to the eln fighting other armed groups, to methods of social control, forced recruitment, extortion, things that are not under the purview of the ceasefire. It is a very important first step. Our message to the government and the negotiators is that it is a first step and the most important thing is to work towards bringing real relief to the civilians who are living in everyday conflict. Sohail we will unpack that through the next halfhour. Laura, good to have you with us. You have heard that first question. History tells us since 1964 the eln were around and they have been in existence. Seven major negotiation periods have occurred historically. They have all failed. It is not a great track record either for them or for government. From where you are sitting in bogota, what do you want to see happen in the next few weeks . Laura well, that is why the eln had approximately seven or eight big dialogues with different governments. In all cases, the government or eln sabotaged the Peace Process. The point is that right now this Peace Process has more advantages than before. First of all this is the first government that agreed the Peace Process with eln will have very broad participation from all the sides of society which is really key for the eln peace. At the same time, there are more connections or possibilities to achieve certain social changes. That is a good sign. On the not so good side if it is true that this is a very fragile process due to several things, the first, due to distrustful of eln especially of the leaders of eln and second because the eln is the centralized armed group. It is possible that if eln have internal struggles, it will reflect sohail physically on the ground as well. We will get to that, the hierarchy of the eln, a little later. Jorge, in terms of the here and now, what positive moves would you like to see in the next 180 days . Jorge well, the government and the eln also agreed to conduct what they call a participants participation process. For the civilian side in particular, in regions where the eln has presence, to attain some sort of additional agenda which is defined by the communities. That is what is going to be going on for the next few months. I want to go back to the point. Which i think is critical for the success of these peace negotiations. The fact that in every area where eln operates in colombias in violent disputes with other groups. Most of them are criminal armed groups. From war against the state to multiplicity of wars against several armed groups. The security need to address those conflicts between the eln and those groups. That is rather difficult objective to find success by the national government. Sohail elizabeth, i bring you in here. The agreement does not stop the eln. As you suggested and our guests have said, the terrorize the terror that is created by armed groups, whether it be attacks on the public, kidnappings. There has been no mention of this in this truce. That may still carry on. It is interesting to wonder how the president and the negotiating teams are going to tackle that. Elizabeth it is important to understand what life is like in eln regions. Even simple things. If i have a dispute with my neighbor, or where my land ends and his begins, i do not go to the police or the judicial system to adjudicate that dispute. I go to the eln. The eln are laying down justice, setting up the rules of commerce. Levels of extortion have increased dramatically. Part of the clamping down with eln areas is related to what they have faced from other armed groups. This is a very important point of the ceasefire. The ceasefire at this point offers the eln a Tactical Advantage in the sense it does free their hand to not worry so much about the military and focus on the threat they are facing from other armed groups. There is a risk that despite the fact we see lower clashes between eln and state forces we could see an increase or a heating up of the conflict between the eln and other armed forces. Sohail what has brought both sides to the negotiating table . Is it both sides realizing they cannot win the battle against one or the other and they have to talk to each other . There is incentive for peace. There are benefits to putting your arms down. Laura if i understand well the question i want to say that theres two tables. Two different tables in colombia. We are at the same time negotiating with two groups. One of them is the eln. The second one is a dissident group coming from and the processes are connected. If the ceasefire with the eln will be good, the second ceasefire also will be good. If not, well, we will we will have the situation elizabeth described. We will see an increase in violence. On the other hand we could see a decrease of violence because in the ceasefire with the eln, the specific protocols, there is included the cooperation of International Human rights. It is not only that the eln attacks against the state and at the same time in the second piece table they are also negotiating a ceasefire with the same conditions. Finally in other regions, but not the majority of eln there are criminal groups. The government and Security Forces should be more present to protect the ceasefire and to recover control of the territory which right now is not in the hands of the state. Sohail jorge, you were nodding in agreement jorge on kidnapping. Let me put it this way. The Peace Process with the eln that has been successfully moved by this government is very different from the one we managed to get a Peace Agreement with the farc. On one particular subject which is the fact that the farc decided to abandon kidnappees well before the start of the negotiation. In this case the eln has not made any type of public declaration they will stop kidnappings. One of the main risks the Peace Process will face will be the capacity of the eln to control its groups in the case they decide to keep that for ransom in the region. That will send this process to a critical situation, especially because the Peace Process does not have the high support by the cities in colombia that had previous Peace Processes. I worry about that. Atrocious forms of violence including terrorism and kidnapping. Nevertheless the protocols do say that the eln cannot commit violations of International Humanitarian law including of course kidnapping and for example the recruitment of minors. Sohail certainly elizabeth is agreeing. I want to come back to you in a moment jorge. Elizabeth, what is different about this Peace Agreement . Jorge touched on it, how the fa rc reacted to wanting peace to how eln is talking peace. There are differences. Elizabeth the first and most important is that the eln watch the farc negotiations and took lessons from that that are coloring the process. The one that would be the most definitive is that the eln considers that farc gave up too much and received too little. Disarmament will be difficult to negotiate and the eln talks about a gradual disarmament process rather than giving up their weapons all at once as the farc did. But rather handing in their weapons at the speed with which the government also provides with its part of the bargain. This has advantages and disadvantages and has been done a mark different Peace Processes. Ireland for example, the laying down of arms was gradual. This is going to be a major point of tension more than anything else with public opinion. Because of the president set with the farc, that is the expectation of the Colombian Public for future processes but its going to be difficult for this government to make that argument with the eln. Why have they taken the lesson this is more broadly something needs to be considered. It is because the implementation of the 2016 agreement with the farc has been slow and behind schedule. There are many aspects of falling short. That is a concern. It raises questions about the credibility of the government to make commitments. Just as it raises questions about the ability of different armed groups to make commitments. Sohail it raises huge questions. Can i ask laura, it raises questions of the government but it also raises questions for the public. From your opinion where you are sitting, how are the public reacting . Laura it is divided. Like with the Peace Agreement with farc. On that time remember we voted against the Peace Process with farc. Public opinion was not agreed with that Peace Process. The Colombian Society is polarized. That will affect the possibility of peace. I also want to say and to support elizabeth on this. The implementation of the Peace Agreement with farc has been a disaster because of one point. Right now we have more than 300 people who signed the Peace Agreement from the farc side and they have been murdered. This is the first that creates an untrustful environment with eln. It is hard to recover that trust on the government side. Other aspects of the agreement have very slow implementation and that has been the tradition historically with Peace Agreements in colombia. We sign agreements, we are good with disarmament, but we are quite bad guaranteeing the life of the people signing the Peace Agreements and we are quite bad guaranteeing the implementations of what we are signing as a society. Sohail i want to move on a little bit. Im sure you are going to add to this conversation. The difference between now and then as you have a leftist president. You had a right wing government and president before. Thaad to this, and for viewers, you want to show the presence of eln in colombia. The one thing about eln which is different to farc is each area the control is controlled independently. This is not a pyramid structure with one leader which mix negotiation more difficult, doesnt it . Jorge the past two years i have to say eln has managed to gain control and command of all of its fronts, and i think that would be the main difference that eln does not have the National Logistic structure. It is also very minor size compared to what was farc. The eln is more radical, close to the financial system. Very large differences, i would say most of the difference comes from the political side. The political definition of the eln. Not so stick to ideology. The peasant defendant structure that had the farc. Allow me to go back to the previous point. What i just wanted to say the u. N. Is not the foremost problem, the other problems include the growing white a scandal that brought the leftwing government of mr. Petro to the presidency and the indictment. Sohail lets bring in elizabeth. You have various president s. Petro has an advantage. He has been a man who picked up arms and fought. He has an understanding of talking to armed groups. Is that an advantage . Elizabeth that is what the government came into office expecting. Unfortunately it is proving more difficult than they anticipated it. It does confer advantages in the sense that there is a level of understanding and trust between the negotiating teams that is quite unique. At the same time i fear that the eln has a longer agenda with someone they believe is more sympathetic to their causes. If you are negotiating with a hardliner youre going to pick what points you are going to push for, what your red lines are and what you really want. The fact this government is sympathetic in a sense that there is an interaction into trust that has been built, it does extend the agenda. In some ways it makes it more complicated. It also frankly makes it harder to sell to the right wing part of the Colombian Public, the skeptical part who fears a peace deal between this government and the eln will be handing the keys of the kingdom to the organization. Of course that is not the case and has never been the case. The governments negotiating position has been firm but Public Perception does have a life of its own sometimes. Sohail laura, we have been talking eln and government but there are more actors involved. You have the cuban government negotiating and helping to nurture talks. Interested parties like venezuela, the United States. There are a lot of people who will not benefit from the sides talking. Laura definitely theres a lot of people that will not benefit of people talking or the Peace Process. But there is more people that will benefit in the Peace Process, we also see. Regarding the United States i think this government has a very good approach to the eln process and also even to the public policy. They were against drugs, the petro government. Petro had Good Management of the relationship with the United States and also he opened the border with venezuela. For me the most important challenge right now in the process with the eln is what to do with the eln in venezuela. The presence of this armed group is quite big in that country. The colombia or the venezuelan government have not excepted the level of challenge here area challenge here. Sohail jorge nodding in disagreement and elizabeth in agreement. Elizabeth, you first. Elizabeth this is an enormous challenge. Because this is a group with a presence on both sides of the border there are questions about whether how you will deal with the fighters who happen to be on the others to the border. I wanted to make two important points. Because of the opening of relations with venezuela, something important has happened at a lowtech logistical and tactical level on the ground. For the first time in more than 40 years military commanders on the ground can share information with their venezuelan counterparts and vice versa. This is very important. The Guerrilla Movement is not just the eln. It is other criminal organizations constantly moving back and forth. The fact we can now share information deescalate the situation significantly. That is a step forward in how we deal with the complications of this situation. Sohail we have to leave the conversation. It is a very interesting one. I am sure we will be bay back to it we will be back to it in 180 days. To my guests in bogota, jorge and laura, and in denver, elizabeth, thank you for joining me on this edition of inside story. Thank you for watching as well. You can see the program any time by visiting our website at al jazeera. Com. For further discussion go to our facebook page. You can also join the conversation on twitter. The handle is aj inside story. Thank you for your time and your company. People are already in the cemetery, and then the shooting starts. The vast majority of the people that got killed ran this way. Yes. Directly into the bullets. The vast majority of the people that survived. Is that who. Ran that way. Ran that way. [ gunshots, people shouting indistinctly ] and you were one of them that managed to escape through the cemetery . At the back side, yeah. Is it still crystal in your head . Yes, very. Very much, very much