United States presence and back-up is vital in the event Colombia’s government and rebel group FARC successfully end peace negotiations, the country’s former ambassador to Washington said on Monday
The US have long supported Colombia’s war against the country’s longest-living rebel group FARC, particularly in the first decade of this century when a joint strategy called “Plan Colombia” sought to curb both drug trafficking and the leftist rebel group’s territorial growth.
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However, as both warring parties have been talking in Cuba since 2012, both US President Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel publicly promised to back Colombia’s ongoing peace negotiations and military transition toward peace.
MORE: US to support Colombia’s military transition toward peace
“FARC would not be sitting in Havana – and ‘Timochenko’ would not be traveling to visit his peers – if it were not for the combination of an immense military effort itself, covered by the financial and technical resources of Plan Colombia,” said former ambassador Gabriel Silva.
The former defense minister stressed how important the US has been in combating drug trafficking, and how important they can be in a peace process.
Additionally, Silva pointed out that in other conflicts like the ones in Ireland and South Africa, the US were vital for peace.
Sources
- ‘Yankees, come home’ (El Tiempo)