The ELN's Western War Front spokesman, wearing camouflage and covering his face with a scarf, denounces an alleged alliance between security forces and the paramilitary drug cartel Clan del Golfo in the Choco department (northwest). "As long as the collusion between military forces and mercenaries," as the Clan is called, continues, "it will be very difficult to carry out a political process," he says. It has been three months since the guerrilla organization agreed to a bilateral ceasefire with the leftist government of Gustavo Petro and a week since the kidnapping of the father of world soccer star Luis Díaz in the north of the country. However, the ELN spokesman speaks of a "cease-fire under fire, because there are still offensive actions against ELN guerrilla units." IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES