WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Part of the US assistance package to Colombia includes $450 million in foreign aid, new US trade and development agreements, and a $30-million initiative to demine Colombia supported by 24 nations.
“We are ready to help make this peace real and durable,” Kerry said in a press conference with Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin.
In a historic meeting in Havana, Cuba on June 23, the Colombian government and FARC representatives signed a ceasefire agreement. The latest agreement was part of negotiations that started in November 2012, in an effort to end the nearly fifty-year civil war between Bogota and the FARC.
FARC is one of the world’s oldest Marxist insurgencies, formed in 1964 when it launched a war to overthrow the government of Colombia and install a revolutionary regime.
Lifting FARC Terrorist Designation to Depend on Future of Colombia Peace Process
The United States will review its terrorist designation against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in the context of the peace process underway in Colombia, Secretary of State John Kerry added.
“It would be only natural that within the context of our review process, that the United States would take count of the steps that they [the FARC] have taken, which may change or may not change the situation,” Kerry stated.
The United States regularly reviews its designated list of terrorist entities, Kerry said, noting that a future US review would take into account efforts by the FARC to “engage in disarmament and… engage in peaceful activities” under the terms of the pending agreement with Bogota.
The FARC has been a US-designated terrorist organization since 1997.
Since November 2012, Colombia has been in negotiations with the FARC to end the country’s nearly fifty year civil war. In June, Bogota and FARC representatives met in Havana, Cuba to sign a ceasefire agreement.
