WASHINGTON, Nov 30, Reuters - The United States revoked its designation of the Colombian group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia as a foreign terrorist organization, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
FARC was dissolved in 2016 after a Peace Accord with the Colombian government, and no longer exists as a unified organization that engages in terrorism, Blinken said.
He said that the two dissident groups that have formed from FARC, La Segunda Marquetalia and FARC-EP or People's Army have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations.
Blinken said that the decision to revoke the designation does not change the position with regard to any charges or potential charges in the United States against former leaders of the FARC, including for narcotrafficking.
He said that he believes that removing the terrorist designation will make it easier for the United States to support the implementation of the accord.
The decision will allow U.S. government agencies like the Agency for International Development to work on peace implementation in parts of Colombia where demobilized FARC soldiers are located.
FARC, founded in 1964, was responsible for the executions and kidnappings of thousands of people, including Americans.
The designation of FARC-EP and Segunda Marquetalia is directed at those who refuse to demobilize and those who are engaged in terrorist activity, according to Blinken.
The United States has also designated the leaders of those organizations - Luciano Marin Arango, Hernan Dario Velasquez Saldarriaga, Henry Castellanos Garzon, Nestor Gregorio Vera Fernandez, Miguel Santanilla Botache and Euclides Espana Caicedo - as specially designated global terrorists, he said.