Colombia's President Approves Extradition of Five Rebel Group Members to the US

Colombia's new right-wing president, Abelardo de la Espriella, has approved the extradition of five rebel armed group members who are wanted in the US on drug-related charges. The move marks a reversal of the approach of his left-wing predecessor Gustavo Petro, who had sought to end the violence that has plagued Colombia for decades by bringing rebel and criminal groups to the negotiating table. Since the first day it was clear: peace cannot be a refuge for criminals nor a mechanism of impunity, de la Espriella wrote on X. Speaking later, he said Petro's peace plan had opened doors to criminals without securing their cooperation.

Critics of Petro's plan say his attempts to negotiate with a number of armed groups failed, as members of the illegal organisations repeatedly broke ceasefires and walked away from the talks. The five men facing extradition are members of dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), a left-wing rebel group that signed a peace deal with the government in 2016, and the Gulf Clan, thought to be Colombia's main drug trafficking cartel.