Rubio, Cruz Draft Bill to Reinstate FARC as Foreign Terrorist Organization

The Biden administration's foreign policy has received considerable criticism from conservatives, with many Republican lawmakers having voiced strong opinions against the White House's decisions abroad, including it's decision to lift the terrorist designation from the FARC paramilitary organization.

One less-covered Biden policy has recently come under attack from Florida's own Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL).

On Friday, July 22, Rubio teamed up with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to introduce a bill that would reinstate the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) onto the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO). The group had been removed from the list in November 2021. Rubio has criticized this decision in a jointly-written letter with Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL).

Rubio and Scott called the removal "a step backwards" in Colombian-American relations. Moreover, the letter states that FARC's removal "would only provide these terrorists and their political sympathizers with enhanced capability, financial resources, and perceived international legitimacy to destabilize our closest ally in the region."

Accordingly, Rubio's comments in the press release of the new bill reemphasize that FARC's removal from the FTO list has "not only failed the Colombian-American community but also set back our region’s security."

In addition to the reinstatement of FARC onto the Foreign Terrorist Organization list, Rubio and Cruz's bill will place terrorist sanctions on the group. Similarly, seven FARC affiliate individuals are targets of sanctions. Per Rubio, "this bill will also ensure the State Department submits a report on seven individuals’ ties to the FARC."

Further comments come from Cruz. He states that "The Biden Administration’s reckless decision to dismantle terrorism sanctions on the FARC has already created catastrophes."

Although FARC has officially begun to demobilize since the 2016 peace agreement with the Colombian government, there are still dissidents. Many involve themselves in the lucrative Colombian drug trade FARC has controlled for much of its existence.