Colombia’s Defense Minister Ivan Velazquez said on Thursday that it was “inexplicable” that the National Liberation Army (ELN) kidnapped a sergeant and his two children, aged 6 and 8, as the guerrillas negotiate peace with the government, AFP reported.

Guevara-inspired rebels kidnapped the family while traveling in an area near the border with Venezuela on July 3, shortly before a bilateral truce began on Thursday.

“The National Liberation Army must give clear signs of its desire for peace. It is not clear that on the same day that the central command published a statement in which it welcomed and called on all members of this organization (…) to suspend the offensive of the operation, on the same day this criminal organization carried out actions against defenseless people,” said Velázquez during a visit to the port of Buenaventura (west).

Calling for their “very speedy release”, he reminded that the ceasefire does not prevent security forces from continuing their operations against guerrilla finances or “their intelligence-gathering work”.

Guerrilla commanders and the government have been negotiating since November to end six decades of armed conflict. The parties seek to extend the current ceasefire and stop extortion, kidnapping and other crimes from August 3. The next round of talks will take place on August 14 in Venezuela with the aim of disarming some 5,900 militants.

The UN Human Rights Office in Colombia condemned the kidnapping of three people, “including a child with disabilities (autism).”

The defense minister’s announcement came during a visit to the city of Buenaventura, which has been engulfed in violence between gangs and drug traffickers.

The major Pacific port handles 40% of Colombia’s international trade and is a popular route for drug trafficking to Central America and Mexico.

Dozens of military and police officers guarded the neighborhood, where a few days ago, about twenty men armed with rifles and hoods sowed terror.

Under the influence of President Gustavo Petro, the Colombian government has been negotiating since late 2022 with the ELN, the last formed guerrilla unit still active in Colombia. Negotiations began in November in Caracas and then continued in March in Mexico City.