Colombia's new ambassador to the U.S. on security, the peace process and U.S.-Colombia relations
Over the weekend, Colombian newspaper El Tiempo published an interview with Colombia’s new Ambassador to the United States, Luis Carlos Villegas. Prior to his new post, Ambassador Villegas was a member of the Colombian government’s team carrying out negotiations with the Farc in Havana. Below are some excerpts from the El Tiempo interview (translated from Spanish), which touch on his views on security, the peace process and Colombia’s relationship with the United States: On the issue of Edward Snowden’s revelations of NSA espionage on Colombian officials:
I think that it should be clear that such close security cooperation between the United States and Colombia should have limits with regards to the depth of that security cooperation, especially with private conversations of public officials or political personalities. Security actions, such as interceptions, should be part of a common agreement and used for purposes previously agreed upon between countries. They cannot be unilateral actions. That is what I call limits and I think that this has become sufficiently clear in the continuing conversations.
When asked what were his projected priority areas in dealing with the U.S., Villegas gave a lengthy answer about hydrocarbons, science and technology. He then added,
And, as an offshoot of our agenda, Colombia has changed in the area of security, even though we still have some problems. We are different than we were 15 years ago in this respect. And now we give security cooperation to third parties, which before was unthinkable. So, there is a new agenda with [the U.S.]: science, technology, water, environment, and security to third parties.
As Just the Facts has previously noted, the exportation of Colombia's security model is an accelerating trend in the region. Several countries' military and police forces, particularly in Central America, have received training from Colombia's security forces, despite continued concerns about unaddressed human rights abuses committed by the Colombian military. The United States hails this strategy as a cheaper alternative to direct U.S. military involvement. This training is sometimes carried out with U.S. assistance, but there is little transparency with regard to the topics covered in the courses and the forces that are trained with U.S. funding. Villegas noted that the peace talks would be on the top of the agenda when Colombian President Santos, meets with President Obama on December 3rd in Washington. "All the solidarity that can be generated in the international community is welcome." According to Villegas, peace in Colombia is peace in the region.
It has to do with money laundering, illicit crop clearing; the struggle against criminal gangs, and peace in Colombia has to do with our international role to be a valid interlocutor of the United States and developed countries in Europe and Asia. We need to solve this conflict by political means. My job is to present the benefits of the peace process, present President Santos' domestic agenda, which is a progressive agenda that attacks the problems the rebels’ have always used in their rhetoric to justify their uprising and that solves this country's greater historical problems related to the countryside. Look, if we could, as one of the byproducts of the peace process, make it so the FARC have an active role in coca eradication and crop substitution, this alone would justify the peace process. To the extent that Colombia can eradicate this raw material, which is the coca plant, it would notably advance the elimination of violence.
On the fragility of the peace process and what can be done to maintain it:
This process has a six-point agenda: the first two are things that the state has to do and they are already agreed upon. The following four are things that the FARC have to do, and they decide the speed and what conditions... What will they do about narcotrafficking? What will they do with the victims? What will they do with their weapons? What will they do about their fighters and reintegration? From here on out, the responsibility on the FARC is immense. The pace of negotiations is going to depend on the FARC because the questions are already drawn up.
On if the FARC are divided:
No. In Havana what appears is a cohesive organization. Remember that the unilateral ceasefire last year was almost fully adhered to.