The National Liberation Army (Spanish: Ejército de Liberación Nacional, ELN) is a guerrilla insurgency group[7] involved in the continuing Colombian conflict,[8] which has existed in Colombia since 1964.

Most notable was Camilo Torres Restrepo (1929–66), a well-known university professor (egalitarian and Marxist–Leninist) who was openly critical of the what he considered grossly unequal income among the social classes of Colombia.

Peace talks began in 2022, but in August 2024 the Colombian government announced an end to a six-month ceasefire, as the ELN had returned to its practice of kidnapping civilians for ransom.

[20] Previous contacts continued during the early days of the Álvaro Uribe Vélez government but eventually were severed, neither party being fully trusting of the other.

The Bishop was subsequently released by ELN members, in good health, on 27 July, after his kidnapping had been condemned by Amnesty International and Pope John Paul II, among others.

This was considered the direct result of three months of previous consultations with representatives of different sectors of public society through the figure of a "House of Peace" (Casa de Paz in Spanish).

[22] During the February talks, which moved at a slow pace, the government decided to formally suspend capture orders for "Antonio García" and "Ramiro Vargas", recognizing them as negotiators and, implicitly, as political actors.

The move was also joined by the creation of what was termed an alternative and complementary mechanism that could be used to deal with difficult issues and matters that concerned both parties, outside the main negotiating table.

[23] On 23 March, the ELN freed a Colombian soldier that it had kidnapped on 25 February, delivering him to the Red Cross, saying that it was a unilateral sign of good will.

[24] The ELN's "Antonio García" expected to visit Cuba from 17 to 28 April, participating in different meetings with representatives of several political, economic and social sectors.

[31] The last hostages were finally released in February 2017 and the talks commenced in the same month, with Pablo Beltrán and Juan Camilo Restrepo heading the delegations of the ELN and the Colombian government, respectively.

[37] As a result of the bombing, President Iván Duque Márquez announced on 18 January that peace dialogue between the Government of Colombia and the ELN was officially suspended.

[40] The Redes Foundation denounced in the Colombian Public Ministry that armed groups made up of National Liberation Army members and FARC dissidents, supported by the Bolivarian National Police and FAES officials, murdered two Venezuelan protesters, Eduardo José Marrero and Luigi Ángel Guerrero, during a protest in the frontier city of San Cristóbal, in Táchira state.

[41] In March 2020, the National Liberation Army (ELN) declared a unilateral one-month ceasefire during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, to start on 1 April.

[46] After Mexico agreed to be an official guarantor to the peace process, it was chosen as the host country for the second round of talks, expected to begin in January 2023.

[48] After misunderstandings arose regarding a bilateral ceasefire between the ELN and the government, an emergency meeting took place on 21 January in Caracas to reassure both sides of their intentions and to set a date for the second round of negotiations, scheduled to commence on 12 February 2023.

[50] In 17 January 2025 the Colombian government suspended peace talks yet again after a massacre carried out in Tibú due to continuous gunfights with FARC-EP dissidents resulted in around 50 civilians killed.

The U.S. State Department has listed the ELN as a Foreign Terrorist Organization because of its reputation for ransom kidnappings and armed attacks on Colombia's infrastructure.

[51] According to Claudia Calle, spokesperson for País Libre, a Colombian foundation for victims of abductions, 153 hostages had died "in the hands of the ELN" between 2000 and 2007.

[55] On 26 May 2008 the ELN wrote a letter to the FARC secretariat, seeking cooperation with Colombia's largest rebel group to overcome "the difficulties we are experiencing in today's Colombian insurgent movement".

We strongly ratify all of our support for the guerrillas and the ELN High Command, in the process that is developed with the participation of the Colombian people in the resolution of the armed conflict and the construction of peace with social justice".