Name? Rodrigo Londoño (Timoleón Jiménez)
Westphalian identity? Colombian
Age? 62
Why is he in the news? As one of Colombia’s most notorious ex-FARC leaders; and now head of the political party Comunes, Londoño sent an open letter to the US Congress asking for help with the implementation of Colombia’s peace agreement.
Why do we care? Because Colombian President Ivan Duque is not aligned with Londoño’s letter. His administration went so far as to respond to Londoño’s letter, saying it ignores the government’s progress with victims and development programs. In other words, Duque is not open to US assistance.
Why should you care? Although the 2016 peace deal has done a lot of good with more than 13000 FARC fighters leaving their weapons and remote territories, the end of the FARC in these regions created a power vacuum that has led other armed groups to move in. So on our how much you should care scale, continuous violence and poverty get an 8/10 because while you should care, it won’t have much of an impact on the average reader.
Who else cares? Presumably, President Biden as his administration was basically just invited to come to Colombia and enforce a peace agreement (albeit, they weren’t invited by the actual president but minor detail). While certain other US agencies may jump at the offer, the White House has yet to make a statement. Now that we think about it, President Biden hasn’t made that many statements or actions towards his Latin American counterparts since taking office.
Any further comments? Londoño is well aware of the influential power the US can have on Colombian politics and therefore, most likely sent the letter as a means of legitimising himself as not only the leader of the Comunes political party but also a leader (others call him a war criminal) in Colombia trying to maintain and strengthen peace within the country.
