The struggle against landmines: an opening for peace talks in Colombia Elisabeth Reusse-Decrey (2005) In 2003 the Swiss-based NGO Geneva Call were authorized to establish contact with two imprisoned representatives of the National Liberation Army (ELN) regarding a landmine ban agreement with the Colombian government. Elisabeth Reusse-Decrey recounts the progress and proposals made as a result of this engagement, and reports on how new actors have become involved in landmine action: the governor of Antioquia created a humanitarian commission to negotiate landmine agreements with guerrilla groups, although the government remains resistant to regionally-based agreements. Several lessons are identified: discussing a concrete topic such as landmines can open up new possibilities for dialogue between belligerents; the involvement of the host government is indispensable; and an NGO can assume a role that governments can rarely afford to play.
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