FARC-govt. deal foils US plots in Colombia: Pundit
Press TV has conducted an interview with Richard Becker, from the ANSWER Coalition in San Francisco, and Brent Budowsky, a columnist at The Hill from Washington, to discuss a recent peace deal between the Colombian government and FARC rebels.
Colombia's government and the FARC reached a peace deal in Havana on Wednesday to end a five-decade war that has cost thousands of lives.
Becker said the United States supported right-wing governments in Colombia to suppress the progressive left-wing fighters known as FARC.
The support came when FARC rebels took arms in the Latin American country "to protect the interests of the poor and stood against the US domination," he told Press TV's "The Debate" program on Thursday night.
Colombia, Becker said, has been a source of vast profits for US corporations, which have dominated foreign investment in the Latin American country.
Referring to another peace agreement in 1980s, he said, the FARC and other forces formed a patriotic union to end the armed conflict in Colombia, but “between 3,000 to 5,000 of those persons who transitioned into a political party, called the Patriotic Union, were murdered by the right wing and by the military.”
Most opinion polls suggest that Colombians will back the deal but the government will face fierce opposition from powerful sectors of the country who believe the only solution is to finish the FARC militarily, he said.
The analyst expressed concern about a possible violent response from former right-wing president Álvaro Uribe, who is leading a ‘no’ campaign, as well as country's death squads which are against the peace agreement.
Budowsky said the government will need to prove that it can bring the rebels into "a democratic, political system honestly with a fair chance and fulfill its duties in this agreement for economic improvement."
The rebels, meanwhile, will have to make sure that they separate from the drug trade.
According to the columnist, there would be sabotage against the peace deal, but the Colombian people think the agreement would help them get rid of five decades of deaths and carnage in their country.
The conflict has left more than 220,000 people dead, 45,000 missing and almost seven million internally displaced.
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