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| - Colombia's last recognized leftist guerrilla group, the ELN, has announced a month-long ceasefire in response to the coronavirus pandemic, a statement released Monday said. The rebels said they would unilaterally suspend military action from April 1 to the end of the month "as a humanitarian gesture." The statement was disseminated by a group of Colombian senators who are seeking to establish a peace process with the group. The National Liberation Army, the group's formal name, noted a recent appeal by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for a halt to conflicts worldwide as nations grapple with the pandemic, and said that Colombian organizations had made similar requests. Ivan Cepeda, a leftist senator who was among those who made public the rebel statement, said the ELN reserved the right to defend itself against attacks by government forces. He said it would also respond similarly to drug trafficking groups with whom it vies for control in various places around the country. "We call on the government of (President Ivan) Duque to order its troops to remain in barracks," the statement said, and urged him to reactivate contacts with its representatives in Havana to negotiate a bilateral truce. The ELN, which is said to operate in about 10 percent of the country, has some 2,300 combatants and an extensive network of supporters in urban centers. It is the last formal guerrilla group left in the country after the government reached a peace agreement with the larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in 2016. Some former FARC rebels have since taken up arms again, however. vel/jm/ft
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