Colombia hands top FARC dissident commander to U.S. authorities for the first time under new president
Colombia extradited Geovany Andres Rojas, a senior leader of a FARC splinter group, to the United States, marking the first such transfer under President Abelardo De La Espriella.
Three police sources confirmed that Geovany Andres Rojas, alias “Spider,” was transferred to U.S. officials from a Colombian National Police airfield in Bogota, with extensive security measures in place. Rojas commands the Border Commands wing of the National Coordinator of the Bolivarian Army, one of several factions formed by former FARC fighters who abandoned the 2016 peace deal. U.S. prosecutors accuse him of overseeing drug-trafficking and criminal conspiracy activities that spanned Colombia and Ecuador beginning in 2017.
This extradition is the first of a senior illegal-armed-group commander since Abelardo De La Espriella assumed the presidency in August. De La Espriella, a right-wing lawyer, has halted peace negotiations with dissident groups and launched a military offensive to reclaim remote territories. Authorities note that such groups fund themselves through cocaine trade, illegal mining and extortion.
Why it matters
It shows Colombia's new hard-line stance on armed rebels and deepens cooperation with the United States on drug-related crimes.
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