Republican Senator ted cruz He spoke at the US Senate plenary session this Thursday about a new bill that would cover Colombia and its bilateral relations with that country.
This, which will be called the ‘Caution Law’, seeks to oversee the resources being distributed to Colombia, particularly in the areas of security, defense and the fight against drug trafficking.
The senator assured that the project would “condition all of our assistance based on the path that has been followed,” Petro, who also pointed out that, in the event that the new government decides to cut off defense coordination with the US, “There will be no more money for security in Colombia”.
According to Cruz, this is a preventive measure, because “any socialist leader who chooses the path of Marxism must be held accountable by the United States”. In addition, he said he was “concerned” about the measures that Petro could take by August 7, because Colombia may be “part of Latin America’s anti-American forces”,
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Any socialist leader who chooses the path of Marxism must be held accountable.
Last week, Cruz joined hands with Congressman Marco Rubio to present another project that deals with Colombia, specifically the FARC. The senators ask that it be reinstated in the list of US terrorist organizations because the group “remains a threat to the security of Colombia.”
Similarly, the project proposes sanctions for terrorism against seven people associated with the FARC. from them Former Senator Piedad Córdoba and Congressman Sandra Ramirez LobozThe widow of Manuel Marulanda Velez, the former leader of the FARC.
“‘Patrista’ Senator Piedad Córdoba aka ‘Teodora’, who played a pivotal role as a negotiator at the time of the peace deal and recently led a scandal when he was arrested at an airport in Honduras with nearly $50,000 in cash. and in second term Sandra Ramírez Lobo aka ‘Griselda Lobo’, widow of the deceased Commander of the Farc Manuel Marulanda aka ‘Tirofijo'”, Cruz said during the Senate session.
The project also calls for sanctions against José Benito Cabrera Cuevas (aka Fabian Ramírez), Erasmo Traslavina Benavides (aka Jimmy Guerrero), Emiro Ropero (Elias Rubén Zamora), Guillermo Enrique Torres Couter (Elias Julian Conrado). ) and Rodrigo Granda (aka Gallopinto). ,
According to the senators, this is a response to President Joe Biden’s decision in November last year to remove the FARC from the list of terrorist organizations following a years-long evaluation. According to the administration, the group no longer exists and its members have been disbanded as part of the peace process.
However, Biden included FARC dissidents on this list of terrorism who did not dismantle the group, among them second marquetalia Led by Ivan Marquez.
Rubio, for his part, said, “The people of Colombia have been innocent victims of FARC terrorist attacks for decades. Biden’s decision to remove him from the list of terrorist organizations not only failed the Colombian-American community but also threatened regional security.” also put in danger.” ,
Although US Congress The authority to make such a decision is usually an attribution that corresponds to the administration on duty, which proceeds with the process of including or excluding a group or people from such a blacklist.
Therefore, and given the current division that exists in the legislature, it is highly unlikely that either of Senator Cruz’s two proposals, if he ultimately decides to introduce ‘caution legislation’, will move forward in Congress.
And not only that. The Biden administration’s position on its relationship with Colombia continues to focus on keeping the country that way. an important economic partner in the region And either Republican bill could affect that position.
