Colombia's new president approves extradition of rebel leaders to US

Colombia's new right-wing president, Abelardo de la Espriella, has approved the extradition of five rebel armed group members who are wanted in the US on drug-related charges.

The move is a step towards ending a plan by his left-wing predecessor Gustavo Petro who tried to end the violence that has plagued Colombia for decades by bringing rebel and criminal groups to the negotiating table.

"Since the first day it was clear: peace cannot be a refuge for criminals nor a mechanism of impunity," de la Espriella wrote on X.

Speaking later he said Petro's peace plan had opened doors to criminals without securing their cooperation.

Critics of Petro's plan say his attempts to negotiate with a number of armed groups failed as members of the illegal organisations repeatedly broke ceasefires and walked away from the talks.

The five men facing extradition are members of dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), a left-wing rebel group that signed a peace deal with the government in 2016, and the Gulf Clan, thought to be Colombia's main drug trafficking cartel.

They are all wanted in the US on charges including drug trafficking, narco-terrorism and illegal weapons possession, among others. Only two of them are being held by Colombian authorities; three others remain at large.

The extraditions were approved by Petro in 2025, but they remained suspended because the men took part in the former president's peace efforts.

De la Espriella, who was sworn in earlier this month, has promised US President Donald Trump to escalate a war against drug trafficking in Latin America. Trump's administration has made targeting traffickers in the region a priority.

Colombia is the world's largest producer of cocaine and has long been one of Washington's closest allies in Latin America, but relations came under strain under Petro.

He openly challenged Washington's approach to combating drug trafficking and condemned the US military's deadly strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats.

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