The US Must Take the Colombian Peace Agreement as an Interdependent Whole

March 04 / 2020

Embrace Dialogue is conscious of the crucial role the US government has played in the Colombian peace process. We celebrate the support the US has contributed to help mitigate the humanitarian crisis of Venezuelan migrants fleeing to Colombia, and call on other countries to complement this support.

We note with concern, however, that the resources of Peace Colombia, the bilateral agreement negotiated under the Obama administration to support implementation of the 2016 Peace Agreement reached between the Colombian government and the FARC, have been redistributed towards combating drug-trafficking, including a return to glyphosate spraying, despite the fact that multiple governments worldwide have prohibited the use of this herbicide for its carcinogenic properties.

We urge the Trump administration to attend to the robust provisions of point four of the Peace Agreement, which plan a holistic solution to drug trafficking, including crop substitution programs, dismantling cartels, money laundering and attending to consumers of illicit drugs as part of a public health policy. Likewise, we urge the US to take the Peace Agreement as an interdependent whole, and not reduce resources for other aspects of the deal such as rural development and support to victims, which, taken together, will strengthen the measures taken to eradicate illicit drugs. 

We urge the Secretary of State to remove the FARC from the terrorist list, as the European Union has done. This does not mean legitimating those FARC members who never disarmed or who have returned to arms, but to recognise that those members who are complying with their commitments to transition from an armed group to a political organisation are part of Colombian civil society and should be encouraged to remain committed to reincorporation.

We regret the US government’s continued inclusion of the FARC political party on the list of terrorist organisations; this prevents US aid from funding many dimensions of implementation of the Peace Agreement where FARC members are present. This creates perverse dynamics which end up undermining the efforts of the Colombian government in implementation and reduces trust, hampering reconciliation altogether.