Picture taken at the "La Paz es Productiva" (Peace is Productive) fair organized by former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas in the framework of the fifth anniversary of the signing of historic peace accords between the guerrilla group and the Colombian government that ended a near six-decade conflict, at Bolivar Square in Bogota on Nov 23, 2021. Nov 24 marks five years since the government and Marxist guerrillas of the FARC signed a deal to end Latin America's longest-running internal conflict. (RAUL ARBOLEDA / AFP)
WASHINGTON - The United States will revoke its designation of the Colombian group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia as a foreign terrorist organization on Tuesday while designating two breakaway groups as such, a senior State Department official said on Friday.
A review of the terrorist listing — required every five years under US law — found that the leftist organization known by the Spanish acronym FARC should no longer be listed, the official said.
The two dissident groups that have formed out of FARC, La Segunda Marquetalia and FARC-EP, or People's Army, would be designated as foreign terrorist organizations, a State Department official said
But the two dissident groups that have formed out of FARC, La Segunda Marquetalia and FARC-EP, or People's Army, would be designated as foreign terrorist organizations, the official said.
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"It’s a realignment to address these current threats," the official said. "The FARC that existed five years ago no longer exists."
Founded in 1964, FARC was responsible for summary executions and kidnappings of thousands of people, including Americans.
On Tuesday, Reuters reported that the United States was preparing to remove FARC from the list five years after the group signed a peace agreement with Bogota.
The State Department notified the US Congress on Tuesday of its planned delisting of FARC. The Colombian government was formally notified on Wednesday.
The government of Colombia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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The decision will allow US government agencies like the US Agency for International Development to work on peace implementation in parts of Colombia where demobilized FARC soldiers are located, the official said.
"This is a priority for the Colombian government in the implementation of the peace agreement," the official said.