As peace nears, renewed push to free Colombian rebel in US

[Judi Lynn]

As peace nears, renewed push to free Colombian rebel in US
Jan 30, 2:01 PM EST
By JOSHUA GOODMAN
Associated Press

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- As negotiations to end Colombia's half-century conflict close in on a final deal, attention is turning to the fate of an aging bank manager-turned leftist rebel who is being held at a U.S. maximum security prison alongside notorious terrorists.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia consider Ricardo Palmera to be a prisoner of war and have long insisted he be released for a peace accord to be signed. But the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has long rejected freeing Palmera, who is serving a 60-year sentence in connection to the FARC's holding captive of three American defense contractors for more than five years a decade ago.

With peace talks expected to wrap up as early as March and President Juan Manuel Santos heading to Washington on Tuesday to cement U.S. support for an accord with the FARC, there is a renewed push to win the 65-year-old's release.

Last week, Colombian Sen. Ivan Cepeda, a trusted conduit of both the FARC and Santos, quietly met with Palmera at the United States' highest security prison to discuss how he can contribute to peace, according to officials in Colombia and the U.S. familiar with the meeting. Cepeda was accompanied by Colombian diplomats and the conversation monitored by U.S. law enforcement, said four officials, who insisted on not being named because they weren't authorized to discuss the issue publicly.

More:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_COLOMBIA_JAILED_REBEL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-01-30-12-42-30

LBN:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141331508

[COLGATE4]

1. And the reason he should be freed is.....?????

[Judi Lynn]

2. Colombia's Santos wants rebels off terror list

Colombia's Santos wants rebels off terror list
Published : 2016-01-30 13:29
Updated : 2016-01-30 13:36

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- President Juan Manuel Santos would like the United States to remove the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia from its list of terrorist organizations and suspend drug warrants against guerrilla commanders if he seals a peace deal with Latin America's oldest leftist insurgency.

In an interview days before a key visit to the White House, Santos made his most-sweeping remarks in three years of peace talks about Washington's important role at the negotiating table. His Feb. 4 meeting with President Barack Obama will celebrate 15 years and some $10 billion in U.S. counterinsurgency and anti-narcotics aid to its staunchest ally in the region.

The high-profile meeting underscores Colombia's historic moment: the peace talks taking place in Cuba have reached what both sides describe as a point of no return, with a final deal to end a half-century of bloodshed expected as early as March. This week the U.N. Security Council unanimously endorsed sending a mission to monitor an eventual accord, handing Santos a diplomatic victory as he tries to drum up funding for what he said will be a 10- to 15-year effort to recover vast parts of the country he says had been ceded by the state to illegal armed groups.

Once a deal is inked, Santos said it would be appropriate for the Obama administration to strike the FARC from a State Department list of terrorist organizations it has been on for almost two decades alongside such groups as al-Qaida and the Islamic State. The FARC, which as part of peace talks has already renounced kidnapping and declared a unilateral truce, has long demanded it be excluded.

More:
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20160130000079