Colombia extradites leader of armed group to US in shift towards Washington

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella announced that Geovany Andres Rojas, an alleged leader of a FARC dissident organisation, was extradited to the United States. Rojas, known by the nickname "the Spider," was flown to California and handed over to US federal authorities, where he is expected to face drug trafficking and terrorism charges. The transfer marks a notable departure from the policies of former president Gustavo Petro, who resisted extradition of some armed-group figures in order to use them as intermediaries during peace negotiations. De la Espriella, a far-right leader who has vowed to abandon those talks, personally supervised the extradition and said Rojas should not be allowed to negotiate deals that would shield him from punishment. Rojas is accused of commanding Comandos de la Frontera, a group tied to cocaine trafficking in the Putumayo province along Colombia’s southern border with Ecuador and Peru. The move to extradite him is part of a broader security pivot by Bogotá toward stronger alignment with US efforts to combat organised crime and drug trafficking in Latin America during the Trump administration’s second term. Human-rights organisations have warned that a return to more militarised strategies could increase the risk of rights abuses and further violence, while a substantial portion of the Colombian public has welcomed firmer action against armed and criminal groups blamed for violence and displacement. The administration’s stance follows a series of military operations targeting groups that fractured from the FARC after the 2016 peace agreement.