Colombia extradites leader of armed group to US in shift towards Washington

Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella has emerged arsenic adjacent state the of Trump medication successful South America.

The Colombian authorities has extradited an alleged cause trafficking person to the United States, portion of a displacement successful the country’s information argumentation into greater alignment with Washington.

President Abelardo de la Espriella announced connected Friday the extradition of Geovany Andres Rojas, who is accused of starring an organisation formed by erstwhile members of the FARC rebel group.

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“You don’t physique bid by protecting narco-terrorists similar this bandit,” de la Espriella said aft helium personally oversaw Rojas’s transportation to the US. “I inquire US authorities … that helium cannot negociate deals that volition permission his crimes unpunished.”

De la Espriella’s left-wing predecessor, Gustavo Petro, shielded Rojas from extradition successful bid to usage him arsenic a mediator successful talks betwixt the authorities and equipped and transgression groups, which Petro sought to rein successful done negotiations alternatively than subject confrontation.

The far-right president has tossed retired that approach, promising to ace down connected groups that divided disconnected from the erstwhile FARC rebel group pursuing a bid woody with the authorities successful 2016. Many of those groups person jostled for power implicit lucrative cause routes and illicit industries.

Rojas, besides known arsenic “the Spider”, was flown to California and placed successful the custody of national agents. He allegedly served arsenic the commandant and spokesperson of Comandos de la Frontera, a radical associated with cocaine trafficking successful the Colombian state of Putumayo that borders Ecuador and Peru.

He volition look cause trafficking and coercion charges successful the US, which has sought to grow military operations crossed Latin America nether the pretext of combating transgression and cause trafficking during President Donald Trump’s 2nd word successful office.

Colombia’s caller president has aligned himself intimately with those efforts, scrapping bid talks and launching subject operations against equipped groups since taking bureau successful August.

The New York Times reported that de la Espriella, a erstwhile defence lawyer, was antecedently investigated by US authorities implicit his ties to almighty cause traffickers, but ne'er charged, and defended politicians linked to right-wing paramilitaries.

Rights groups person warned that a instrumentality to militarised confrontation could pb to rights abuses by authorities forces and an escalation successful violence, but galore Colombians person expressed enactment for a harder manus against transgression groups whose operations person often led to unit and mass displacement of civilians.