Colombia’s President Rules Out ELN Hostage Exchange
Colombia · Security
Key Facts
- —What happened President Abelardo De la Espriella rejected a Colombia ELN hostage exchange on 17 September 2026, the same day it was raised.
- —Who is being held Three DIJIN police officers and one civilian, taken on the Ocaña-Cúcuta road in Norte de Santander on 17 August 2026.
- —The catch The ELN has not published what it wants in return, and its exchange language was conditional rather than a formal offer.
- —Why it matters InSight Crime calls the ELN the last remaining guerrilla insurgency in Colombia, after 62 years of continuous armed activity.
- —Where talks stand De la Espriella ended all dialogue with the ELN on 11 September 2026, calling the process a false peace.
- —The military answer With the rejection on 17 September 2026 he ordered military and police operations against the group to be intensified.
Colombia’s new president has refused to swap prisoners for three police officers and a civilian seized in August. The peace talks that might once have handled this no longer exist.
A Colombia ELN hostage exchange has been ruled out by the country’s new president. Abelardo De la Espriella rejected the idea on Thursday 17 September 2026.
“There will be no swap. The lives and freedom of Colombians are not bargaining chips,” he said, in remarks carried by the Bucaramanga daily Vanguardia.
De la Espriella took office on 7 August 2026 in Cali, succeeding Gustavo Petro. He was elected on a hard-security platform and promised to fight illegal armed groups.
Who the ELN are
The Ejército de Liberación Nacional, or National Liberation Army, is a Marxist guerrilla group formed in 1964. It launched publicly on 7 January 1965 by seizing the town of Simacota.
That adds up to 62 years of continuous armed activity. InSight Crime, a research group that tracks organised crime in the region, calls it the last remaining guerrilla insurgency in Colombia.
Its founders fused Marxism-Leninism with liberation theology, and a Spanish priest, Manuel Pérez, later led it. That clerical strand still sets the ELN apart from the FARC.
InSight Crime puts its strength at roughly 6,300 people, fighters and support networks together. About a fifth of them are based in Venezuela.
The same profile counts a presence in at least 184 Colombian municipalities across 19 departments. The group is strongest along the Venezuelan border.
InSight Crime lists extortion, drug trafficking, illegal mining and kidnapping among its sources of money. Kidnapping is a revenue line, not an accident.
The four people being held
They were seized on 17 August 2026 on the Ocaña-Cúcuta road in Norte de Santander, near Venezuela. Three are officers of the DIJIN, the National Police’s judicial investigation directorate.
They are Major Fredy Alexis Russi González, Patrol Officer Erika Tatiana Monroy Hurtado and Patrol Officer Edinson Yesid Medina Traslaviña. The fourth captive is a civilian, Angi Jácome.
What the guerrillas actually said
The ELN confirmed it held the four in a communique dated 17 September 2026. It came with proof of life and said they were in good health.
A swap was raised only in passing, and the wording was conditional. Semana carried the line: “The possibility of regaining freedom, or a swap, is always a possibility the ELN values.”
No list of prisoners, no numbers and no names have been published. The ELN said the four would be held while it looked into alleged operations against it.
Why a canje is refused
A Colombia ELN hostage exchange, or canje, would trade captives for imprisoned fighters. De la Espriella refused, and the legal objection was set out before he took office.
The clearest official statement on the law predates this government. “A swap would imply recognising the legitimacy of an illegal armed group,” Jorge Iván Cuervo said in May 2026.
Cuervo, then justice minister under Petro, told the Barranquilla daily El Heraldo that neither international law nor Colombian legislation allowed it.
That was the previous government’s position. De la Espriella’s justice minister is Iván Cancino, named in the cabinet announced in August 2026.
The peace talks are over
Any exchange would need a channel, and none is open. On 11 September 2026 De la Espriella announced the dismantling of the ELN dialogue he inherited from Petro.
“The false peace is over,” he said, in remarks reported by the Bogotá magazine Semana. He had already cut dialogue with three other armed groups on 31 August 2026.
The ELN table was already suspended under Petro, the Latin American news service NODAL reported. Petro had frozen it for want of a demonstrated commitment to peace.
Semana reported that four years of ELN talks cost more than 7,000 million Colombian pesos, or about US$2.22 million, in fees.
That conversion uses the official TRM rate of 3,151.73 to the dollar. El Heraldo published that rate, Colombia’s official daily reference, on 18 September 2026.
The military track instead
What replaces dialogue is force. De la Espriella ordered military and police operations, running since the 17 August kidnapping, to be intensified.
He told the ELN to release the four “immediately, safe and sound, and without conditions”. He directed the forces to act within the constitution and the law.
His defence minister is retired army general Jorge Eduardo Mora López, whose appointment was announced in July 2026. The rejection of 17 September 2026 came from the president himself.
Two days before the communique, on 15 September 2026, troops freed eight people held by the ELN. Infobae said they had been held for nearly two years.
That rescue took place in rural parts of Convención, in the Catatumbo region near Venezuela. The army, the police, the air force and the Fiscalía, Colombia’s prosecution service, all took part.
Infobae reported that United States Southern Command and the US Drug Enforcement Administration supported the operation. Colonel Fabio Ojeda directs the police GAULA, the anti-kidnapping unit that went in.
GAULA stands for Grupo de Acción Unificada por la Libertad Personal. Major General José Bertulfo Soto Sánchez commands the National Army.
What happens next
The sequence matters. A rescue on 15 September, proof of life on 17 September, and a refusal the same day.
For the government, a swap would hand the group recognition it has sought for decades. Its stated route is rescue, not a deal.
Beyond these four captives, the group’s full tally of hostages is not publicly known. Agency reporting on 15 September 2026 said the exact figure was unknown.
For foreign residents and travellers, the geography is the practical point. Norte de Santander and the Catatumbo border strip are where the ELN is strongest.
More: Colombia coverage, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the ELN?
The Ejército de Liberación Nacional, or National Liberation Army, is a Colombian guerrilla group formed in 1964 and launched publicly in January 1965. Its politics mix Marxism-Leninism with liberation theology, and a Spanish priest, Manuel Pérez, once led it. InSight Crime puts its strength at about 6,300 fighters and support members, roughly a fifth of them based in Venezuela, with a presence in at least 184 Colombian municipalities. InSight Crime calls it the last remaining guerrilla insurgency in Colombia.
What is a canje, and why did Colombia say no?
A canje is a swap: captives held by an armed group traded for its members held in prison. President Abelardo De la Espriella rejected the ELN offer on 17 September 2026, saying the lives and freedom of Colombians are not bargaining chips. The legal objection was put most clearly by Jorge Iván Cuervo, justice minister under Gustavo Petro, in May 2026. He told El Heraldo that a swap would imply recognising the legitimacy of an illegal armed group.
Are peace talks with the ELN still running?
No. On 11 September 2026 De la Espriella announced the dismantling of the ELN dialogue inherited from the Petro government, saying the false peace was over. He had already ended talks with three other armed groups on 31 August 2026. The ELN table had in any case been suspended under Petro, according to the news service NODAL. There is no negotiating channel open at the time of writing.
Who are the four people the ELN is holding?
Three are officers of the DIJIN, the National Police’s judicial investigation directorate: Major Fredy Alexis Russi González, Patrol Officer Erika Tatiana Monroy Hurtado and Patrol Officer Edinson Yesid Medina Traslaviña. The fourth is a civilian, Angi Jácome. They were taken on 17 August 2026 on the Ocaña-Cúcuta road in Norte de Santander. Infobae and Semana spell some of the names differently, including Freddy Russi, Edison Medina and Angie Jácome.
Sources: El Heraldo on the rejection and the four captives, Vanguardia on the president’s wording, Semana on the ELN communique, Infobae on the 17 August kidnapping, Semana on the end of the ELN dialogue, Infobae on the Catatumbo rescue, El Heraldo on the legal objection to a swap, InSight Crime on the ELN’s size and reach, Infobae on the cabinet, El Heraldo on the official peso rate
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