Bogota (AFP) – Colombia’s second-largest guerrilla group, the ELN, freed a civilian hostage Monday, the Red Cross said, the rebels’ third such release in recent days as they apparently prepare to open peace talks with the government.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said the National Liberation Army (ELN) handed over the unnamed hostage in a remote area near the Venezuelan border, hours before what was billed as an important announcement on the peace process by the leftist rebels and the government.
The news comes as President Juan Manuel Santos, who won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, tries to save a peace deal with a larger rebel group, the FARC, that voters rejected in a referendum.