Cuba Dismisses Claims of ELN Presence: "They Left Months Ago"

The Cuban government firmly denied on Friday any presence of the National Liberation Army (ELN) on its soil, asserting that representatives of this Colombian guerrilla group departed the island months ago after concluding peace talks with the Colombian government.

Eugenio Martínez Enríquez, the General Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at Cuba's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, addressed the allegations concerning the supposed presence of the ELN in Cuba. Through his account on the social media platform X, Martínez emphasized that no ELN members, "nor their Central Command," are in Cuba, describing such claims as "baseless, because there is no evidence."

The diplomat clarified that all ELN members who traveled to Cuba did so with official authorization from the Colombian government, using safe-conduct passes issued specifically for participating in the peace talks. He added that "all ELN members left Cuba months ago, after the conclusion of the Sixth Cycle of the Peace Dialogue Table and the Contact Point requested by the Peace Delegation of the Colombian Government and the ELN."

Martínez also pointed out that both the Colombian government and the guarantor countries of the dialogues, along with permanent companions, are aware of this information. He recalled that during an extraordinary meeting of the Peace Dialogue Table held in Caracas, Venezuela, in May 2024, the ELN itself confirmed the departure of its members from Cuba.

The Cuban government's statement comes amid the reactivation of arrest warrants against ELN peace negotiators on Wednesday, following Colombian President Gustavo Petro's decision to suspend the dialogues. This action was taken in response to alleged "war crimes" committed by the ELN in the Catatumbo region, as reported by the Efe news agency.

Colombia's Attorney General, Luz Adriana Camargo, explained that "the failure to comply with the conditions for suspending the arrest warrants, and particularly the commission of new crimes by ELN members, necessitates reactivating the warrants that were previously suspended at the president's request." Additionally, Camargo stated in a press conference last Thursday that extraditions of guerrilla leaders "in Cuba or wherever they may be" will be requested through Interpol and international cooperation.

Meanwhile, Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel also addressed the issue on social media, criticizing the accusations against Cuba. "Among the most cynical and perverse maneuvers of the enemies of the Cuban people are the false pretexts they construct to accuse #Cuba of criminal practices that they will never be able to prove, and distorting facts that history clarifies abundantly," he expressed. Díaz-Canel claimed that Cuba's detractors remain attached to "dishonest arguments that exist only in their wicked minds," asserting that these attacks have not managed to prevent the international isolation in which the United States allegedly finds itself due to its aggressive policy towards the island.

The Cuban government reiterated its commitment to the peaceful resolution of conflicts in Latin America and defended its record as a mediator in peace processes, stressing that any attempt to question its role in these efforts is "unacceptable."

Meanwhile, the Colombian government has stated that ELN members participating in peace talks are not in Cuba. According to information from the EFE agency, Colombian authorities have assured that guerrilla representatives involved in the negotiations are in Colombian territory or in other countries designated for the talks. "Our delegation affirms that to date, and according to official information, there are no ELN representatives or authorized individuals participating in the peace process currently in Cuba," stated the government delegation led by Vera Grabe on X.