The next round of the year-old talks between the government and National Liberation Army had been expected to begin in the coming days in Quito, Ecuador.
"My patience and the patience of the Colombian people have limits," Santos, winner of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end Colombia's half-century conflict, said at an event near Bogota yesterday.
Five officers were killed and more than 40 injured when a homemade bomb exploded outside a police station in Barranquilla during a shift change early Saturday. A few hours later two more were killed and several injured by two separate bomb attacks on police targets near the coastal city.
Defence Minister Luis Carlos Villegas said a man suspected of planting the bomb and who had previously been arrested for having ties to the ELN was arrested shortly after the first attack.
Also Read
In a statement yesterday, the rebel group expressed its continued support for peace talks. But it said the re- establishment of a cease-fire that expired earlier this month depends on the government halting hostilities in areas under its influence.
The end of that conflict has been hailed internationally, though it has also opened a new power struggle in remote areas previously controlled by FARC rebels and still occupied by ELN combatants.
The much-smaller ELN, whose ranks don't surpass 2,000 fighters, was started in the 1960s by Roman Catholic priests inspired by Fidel Castro's revolution in Cuba. Unlike the highly centralised FARC, the ELN's command structure is more diffuse, making it harder for top commanders in Ecuador to control the actions of its fighters.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content