Colombia’s largest guerrilla movement declared a unilateral cease-fire for the upcoming elections on Monday, saying the pause is meant to reduce tensions as political violence – including attacks, kidnappings and threats against candidates – continues to escalate nationwide.
The country will elect new members of Congress on March 8 and a successor to leftist President Gustavo Petro on May 31.
The National Liberation Army (ELN) typically orders temporary truces during election periods and major holidays.
Ostensibly a leftist insurgent force, the 6,000-strong ELN doubles as one of Latin America's most powerful drug-trafficking organizations.
Petro's administration has abandoned unsuccessful efforts to negotiate peace with the ELN and experts say it has grown stronger recently thanks to cocaine revenues.
In a report Monday on Colombia's security climate, the Ombudsman's Office said there had been 457 death threats against civil and political leaders during the pre-election period.
"It is very worrying, and it is clear that the situation is deteriorating," Miroslav Jenca, U.N. special representative for Colombia, told AFP of the report.
The report cited the ELN, the Gulf Clan – Colombia's main drug cartel – and dissident factions of the now-defunct FARC guerrilla group as a "source of threats" to free elections.
The assassination last year of conservative presidential candidate Miguel Uribe sparked fears of a return to the violence of the 1980s and 1990s, when cocaine cartels and various armed groups terrorized Colombia and political assassinations were common.
