By Richard McColl

BOGOTA

A Colombian guerrilla group said Wednesday that it is open to dialogues with the government and willing to end hostilities.

Nicolás Rodríguez Bautista, also known as “Gabino,” commander in chief of the National Liberation Army, or ELN, issued a statement on the group’s website as part of its “Political Declaration” to mark the 50th anniversary of its founding.

 “If we consider and then conclude that weapons are no longer necessary, we would be willing to consider laying down our arms,” he said, adding that the government of President Juan Manuel Santos “has made clear its willingness to bring the armed conflict to an end.”

ELN is the smaller of the two rebel groups engaged in a long-running armed conflict against the Colombian state.

While the larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, number approximately 8,000 combatants and has been involved in peace dialogues with the Colombian government in Havana since November 2012, ELN has an estimated 3,000 fighters. The ELN engaged in exploratory talks with the government in 2014.

President Santos on Monday encouraged members of the ELN “to reach an agreement as soon as possible regarding the agenda for talks,” which has been “debated for some time."

Former ELN guerrilla and now an analyst and political commentator, Leon Valencia, said in an interview with El Tiempo newspaper that “if the ELN announces a unilateral cease-fire, we are close to an end of the conflict. This would mean that we are approaching a final stage of negotiations with tranquillity.”

Speaking from the Caribbean coastal city of Cartagena where he was meeting with his negotiating team, Santos would not provide a set date for the recommencement of peace talks with the FARC – that were put on hold during Christmas – but said that his negotiators have precise instructions to “speed up the conversations so as to bring to an end for once and for all this armed conflict.”

Any talks with the ELN will not be fused with those of the FARC, he said.