US officially labels Colombia’s EGC group a ‘terrorist organization’

Analysts pass US ‘terrorist’ designation of the EGC could escalate unit and hinder bid negotiations successful Colombia.

Bogota, Colombia – The United States Department of State has designated Colombia’s largest transgression group, the Gaitanist Army of Colombia (EGC), a “terrorist organisation”.

The EGC, besides referred to arsenic the Clan del Golfo, has a beingness crossed Colombia and is known for its engagement successful cause trafficking, amerciable mining, and extortion.

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“Today, the Department of State is designating Clan del Golfo arsenic a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT),” work a connection by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio released connected Tuesday morning.

“Based successful Colombia, Clan del Golfo is simply a convulsive and almighty transgression organisation with thousands of members … liable for violent attacks against nationalist officials, instrumentality enforcement and subject personnel, and civilians successful Colombia,” continued the communique.

Last year, the Biden medication imposed fiscal sanctions connected apical members of the EGC but stopped abbreviated of classifying it arsenic a violent organisation.

Washington antecedently designated different progressive Colombian equipped groups arsenic FTOs, including the National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissident factions of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Under the FTO designation, US courts tin authorisation immoderate idiosyncratic oregon organisation considered to beryllium providing assistance to, oregon linked to, the EGC.

The determination volition summation opportunities to sever links betwixt the radical and backstage enterprise, according to analysts.

“This is an organisation that has heavy tentacles successful the concern world,” said Elizabeth Dickinson, lawman manager for Latin America astatine International Crisis Group, adding, “it does unfastened immoderate absorbing lines of investigation, for example, successful wealth laundering and facilitating and logistics.”

But experts besides pass that Washington’s determination could undermine ongoing bid negotiations betwixt the EGC and the Colombian state, mediated by the Qatari government. On December 5, Colombia signed a woody successful Doha with the EGC to initiate a bid process aimed astatine the EGC’s disarmament.

“The designation of the EGC and its bid operation arsenic terrorists makes it astir intolerable to proceed these talks extracurricular the state with information guarantees,”  said Gerson Arias, struggle and information researcher astatine the Ideas for Peace Foundation, a Colombian deliberation tank.

He added that it complicates discussions connected extraditions, a cardinal constituent of contention successful ongoing negotiations. According to Arias, the FTO designation efficaciously eliminates the anticipation of the Colombian authorities providing guarantees that it volition not extradite EGC leaders to a US prison.

Last week, the group’s main negotiator, Alvaro Jimenez, told Reuters that the group’s commanders would apt look jailhouse clip successful a imaginable deal, raising the stakes for non-extradition guarantees.

A breakdown successful talks could intensify the struggle betwixt the authorities and the EGC, according to Crisis Group’s Dickinson: “If bid talks were to extremity … I bash deliberation that that would pb to an escalation successful unit crossed the northbound of the country, particularly.”

Earlier this year, the EGC killed dozens of authorities information officials successful a targeted campaign.

But Dickinson stressed that the FTO designation does not preclude bid talks, citing the palmy 2016 woody with the FARC, which was past a US-designated FTO.

“Let’s not get up of ourselves for present … the important happening is that Colombia volition person to instrumentality a measurement backmost and determine however to proceed with negotiations,” the expert told Al Jazeera.