Washington (AFP) – Washington announced Tuesday the removal of the defunct guerrilla group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) from its list of terrorist organizations, with a view to “better supporting” the implementation of the peace agreement sealed five years ago.
“The State Department revokes the designation of the FARC as a foreign terrorist organization,” said the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, in a statement.
“Following a 2016 peace agreement with the Colombian government, the FARC were officially dissolved and disarmed. They no longer exist as a unified organization dedicated to terrorism or terrorist activities, or with the capacity or intention to do so,” he added.
The gesture was applauded from Colombia by the former commander of the former guerrilla, Rodrigo Londoño, known as Timochenko.
“I salute the decision of the US State Department to remove the disappeared FARC-EP from the list of terrorist organizations. It is a recognition of our commitment to peace and our rigorous compliance with what was agreed in the Peace Agreement”, wrote on Twitter.
I salute the decision of the US State Department to remove the disappeared FARC-EP from the list of terrorist organizations.
It is a recognition of our commitment to peace and our rigorous compliance with what was agreed in the Peace Agreement. https://t.co/fxwHoxcUMz
– Rodrigo Londoño (@TimoComunes) November 30, 2021
The government of President Joe Biden had declared its intention to remove the FARC from its list of terrorist organizations on November 23, on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the peace pact between the Colombian government and the ex-guerrilla, which led to its disarmament and dissolution. after decades of fighting.
The United States officially designated the FARC as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997, in the middle of the six-decade confrontation with the Colombian state.
On November 24, 2016, after negotiations in Cuba, the guerrilla group laid down its arms and signed a peace agreement with then-Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.
However, the label of terrorist organization has continued to affect the former rebel group, now transformed into a political party.
The United States seeks to “better support” the advancement of the peace process in Colombia
Blinken specified that this removal from the black list does not change the position of the United States regarding the legal proceedings initiated or future against former guerrilla leaders, including those suspected of drug trafficking.
Nor does it modify decisions of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) of Colombia, the court that judges the worst crimes in a conflict that leaves nine million victims among dead, mutilated, kidnapped and disappeared.
“However, it will facilitate the ability of the United States to better support the implementation of the 2016 agreement, including working with demobilized combatants,” Blinken noted.
Some 13,000 guerrillas have surrendered their weapons since the signing of the peace agreement.
By virtue of the agreement, the FARC, a movement that took up arms in the 1960s, in the midst of the Cold War, became the Communes political party, with guaranteed representation in parliament but without much weight at the polls.
The text signed in 2016 provides for political and agrarian reforms that must be implemented before 2031.
But although the agreement significantly reduced violence, various armed groups operate in the country, including paramilitaries, drug traffickers and other rebels, including some dissidents from the FARC itself.
Former commanders who departed from the peace agreement between the FARC leadership and the Santos government command the dissidents, whose force is estimated at 5,200 combatants, the majority (85%) new recruits, according to the Colombian Institute of Studies for the Development and Peace (Indepaz).
Washington adds Segunda Marquetalia and FARC-EP to the list of terrorist organizations
In his statement, Blinken announced that Segunda Marquetalia and FARC-EP, two groups formed by former FARC leaders who refused to demobilize, were added to the list of terrorist organizations.
“We are also appointing the respective leaders of those organizations,” he said.
One of them is Luciano Marín Arango, alias Iván Márquez, former number two of the FARC and former peace negotiator in Havana, who founded Segunda Marquetalia in August 2019.
Also featured are Hernán Darío Velásquez, known as El Paisa, and Henry Castellanos, alias Romaña, to whom the US government attributes responsibilities for military operations in Segunda Marquetalia.
The leaders of the FARC-EP were also included on Washington’s blacklist: their leader, Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández, alias Iván Mordisco; the second in command, Miguel Santanilla Botache, alias Gentil Duarte; and Commander Euclides España Caicedo, alias Jhonier.
The designation means that all the properties of the persons and entities concerned will be blocked and reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Treasury.
People who transact with those on the list could be subject to terrorist designation, and foreign financial institutions that do so could be penalized.
“It is a crime to knowingly provide material support or resources to Segunda Marquetalia and the FARC-EP, or to attempt or conspire to do so,” Blinken said.
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