Miami congresswoman pans ‘dangerous’ Colombian peace deal

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen wants the United States to reexamine its support for an expected peace agreement between the Colombian government and leftist rebels with whom it has been fighting for five decades.

In a speech on the floor of the House of Representative Tuesday, the Miami Republican slammed the agreement, under which members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, would lay down their weapons and become law-abiding citizens. The White House has pledged $450 million in annual support.

“That deal is dangerous for Colombia and for our U.S. national security,” Ros-Lehtinen said.

She blasted U.S. officials for supporting a deal that includes no jail time for rebels and for thinking that the Cuban government can act as impartial mediators to peace talks that are taking place in Havana. She voiced concern that the White House would give in to a FARC demand that the United States free FARC leader Simon Trinidad, who is serving a 60-year sentence in Colorado, and remove the FARC from the federal list of terrorist organizations.

Colombia, the fourth-largest economy in Latin America, is one of the United States’ top allies and a major foreign policy success story. The United States has provided more than $10 billion in aid to Colombia since 2000 under a program known as Plan Colombia intended to combat drug trafficking and drug-related violence.

The White House last month pledged $450 million in aid annually to help demobilize rebels. The pledge came as Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was visiting Washington.

The money would help the Colombia reinforce security and re-establish the rule of law in regions that have been controlled by rebels. It also included an initiative to find and remove landmines.

“A country that was on the brink of collapse is now on the brink of peace,” President Barack Obama said after meeting with Santos.

While Ros-Lehtinen supported Plan Colombia, as well as trade promotion and other bilateral agreements with Colombia, she and other South Florida Republicans have raised concerns about the peace talks. They argue, among other things, that the U.S. taxpayer shouldn’t pay for a deal that fails to hold the FARC accountable for the many crimes against U.S. and Colombian citizens.

“The pending agreement includes no jail time for any of the FARC criminals,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “These criminals have kidnapped and tortured scores of Colombian citizens and even held American citizens hostage.”

As recently as November, a FARC member, Diego Alfonso Navarrete Beltran, 43, was sentenced to 27 years in U.S. federal prison in the kidnapping of three U.S. civilian drug surveillance contractors. Navarrete Beltran was one of the FARC fighters who guarded the men during their five years of captivity.

This story was originally published March 1, 2016 at 3:17 PM with the headline "Miami congresswoman pans ‘dangerous’ Colombian peace deal."