Colombian author Garcia Marquez mediates between government, rebels

Bogota - Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez is mediating efforts to reach a peace agreement with leftist rebels of the National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said Monday. Marquez 'has been very attentive to the success (of peace talks),' Uribe told Caracol Radio. Uribe said he did not want to falsely raise expectations over the outcome, and suggested waiting until his Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo returns from this week's trip to Cuba. Marquez, writer of the acclaimed novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, who turned 80 last week, is a close friend of elderly Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The ELN was founded in 1964 and is the second-largest guerrilla group in Colombia, with 4,000 fighters. It has ideological ties to the Cuban regime. Uribe's government has been engaged in exploratory talks with the ELN in Cuba since December 2005. The most recent round took place in February. Garcia Marquez has already mediated in the past between the state and rebel groups. His efforts are thought to have been decisive to secure peace with the M-19 guerrillas in 1990. The author himself has not confirmed his involvement. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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