As you may know, President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia has made it possible for FARC to participate in the upcoming elections. The group is guaranteed ten seats in the Congress and has been offered a legitimacy that no terrorist group deserves.
This is not going down well with many Colombians:
As the FARC has largely funded itself on ransom cash and drug trafficking, there is a high chance that illicit money will enter the Colombian political system through them [sic].
Colombia voters rejected the peace deal in 2016. That Santos went ahead with it anyway – in violation of the Colombian constitution, critics note – appears to have done little to improve popular sentiment towards the terrorist organization.
On February 2, “Timochenko” made his first official campaign appearance in Quindío, an area that Colombia’s El Tiempo notes was chosen because it was the “cradle of history commanders” of the FARC like “Timochenko” himself. Crowds in the town received the presidential candidate and terror chief with chants of “terrorist, murderer, get out!”
The FARC canceled a second appearance in public that weekend.
Well, good for the people who showed their frustration and threw some eggs.
Colombians have good reason to feel a bit uncomfortable. A friend from Cali, Colombia recently told me forty FARC members have been killed since the 2016 peace deal. He also said a bomb attack by a rival guerrilla band killed another five and wounded 42.
So who said peace is at hand? Not the guerrillas!
President Santos made a big mistake when he brought this deal to bring FARC terrorists. My guess is that he was trying to win a Nobel Peace Prize and put a down payment on his legacy. I am not optimistic.
PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.