Colombia's government and the country's last active guerrilla group, the ELN, announced a ceasefire today, a key step toward sealing a "complete peace" to end Latin America's longest civil war.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and National Liberation Army (ELN) negotiators announced the ceasefire two days before a visit to Colombia by Pope Francis.
ELN chief negotiator Pablo Beltran said his force's ceasefire was "the first miracle of the pope's visit."
The ceasefire follows a separate accord that saw the disarmament last month of Colombia's biggest rebel group, the FARC.
Santos said it was "great news that we are sure will delight" the Argentine pontiff.
Under the ceasefire, "there will be an end to kidnappings, attacks on oil pipelines and other hostilities against the civilian population" by the ELN, Santos said in a televised address.
The government for its part promised to improve conditions for imprisoned ELN members and protect civil leaders from attacks in the conflict zone.
The 1,500-strong ELN has been in negotiations with the government since February.
Santos said the ceasefire will be renewed depending on progress on details still to be thrashed out with the leftist rebels.
"It will come into effect on October 1, initially for 102 days, that is to say until January 12 of next year."
The ELN delegation earlier announced the deal on Twitter.
"When the days of celebration during Francis's visit to Colombia are over, we will continue, determined to advance toward a de-escalation of the conflict until complete peace becomes a reality."
Francis is scheduled to tour Colombia from September 6 to 10.
The two delegations to the talks said at a news conference in Quito that the Colombian government, ELN, UN and the Catholic church would jointly monitor the fulfilment of the ceasefire.
"It is a challenge for us to fulfil all the aspects agreed upon in this ceasefire. We hope to keep our word," said Beltran.
The 7,000 members of the FARC finished disarming last month under UN supervision, despite resistance to the deal from critics who said the FARC got off too lightly.
Analysts warn that the talks with the ELN, under way since February, risk being even more complicated than the four-year negotiations with the FARC.
The deal that came out of those talks was considered to have practically ended the conflict, but other risks remain.
The rebel group has a looser command structure than the FARC had.
"The lack of cohesion in the ELN is a big difference compared with the FARC," said Camilo Echandia, a conflict analyst from Colombia's Externado University.
Officials meanwhile say remnants of right-wing paramilitary groups are still fighting the ELN for control of the drug trade.
Authorities have also reported deadly attacks by ELN fighters against state forces.
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