Captured FARC Documents Link Democrats to Terror
Group
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In this photo released by Colombia's Presidency police chief Gen. Oscar Naranjo shows documents recovered from the computer of the senior commander of the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, killed in Ecuador during a press conference at the presidential palace in Bogota, Monday, March 3, 2008.
According to Naranjo some files recovered from a laptop owned by the rebel leader known as Raul Reyes, who was killed Saturday in an operation by Colombian
security forces just over the border in Ecuador, reveal that the guerillas sent money to Hugo Chavez when he was a jailed coup leader before being elected
Venezuela's president and that Chavez had recently paid US$ 300 million to the FARC. (AP Photo-Cesar Carrion)
What Colombian investigators found on the FARC terror leader's computer:
-- FARC connections with Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa
-- Records of $300 million offerings from Hugo Chavez
-- Thank you notes from Hugo Chavez dating back to 1992
-- Uranium purchasing records
-- Admit to killing the sister of former President Cesar Gaviria
-- Admit to planting a 2003 car bomb killing 36 at a Bogota upper crust club
-- Directions on how to make a Dirty Bomb
-- Letter to Libya's Moammar Gadhafi asking for cash to buy surface-to-air missiles
-- Meetings with "gringos" about Barack Obama
-- Information on Russian illegal arms dealer Viktor Bout who was later captured
-- FARC funding Correa's campaign
-- Cuban links to FARC
...And, more.
Captured FARC terrorist documents link US democrats to the Colombian terrorist group. 16 documents were posted this weekend in the
Spanich Semana magazine. One of the documents mentions that US Democrats were trying to organize meetings with the FARC.
The AP
reported:
New docs detail Colombian rebel ties
By FRANK BAJAK, Associated Press Writer
Mon Mar 10, 3:48 AM ET
![]()
BOGOTA, Colombia - Newly published documents released by
Colombia's security forces claim the leftist presidents of Venezuela and Ecuador conspired for months with rebel insurgents who seek to overthrow the
country's U.S.-allied government.
The 16 documents were published Sunday by the news magazine
Semana. They also detail previously unknown relationships held or sought by Latin America's oldest and most potent rebel force, the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
One is a letter to Libya's Moammar Gadhafi asking for
$100 million to buy surface-to-air missiles. Another discusses an apparent effort by U.S. Democrats to have celebrated novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez mediate
talks with the insurgents - possibly with former President Clinton's involvement.
There is no evidence the FARC ever obtained surface-to-air
missiles, however. Attempts to reach Clinton and Garcia Marquez were unsuccessful.
The documents are signed by rebel leaders including Raul
Reyes, the public face of the rebel group. Colombian officials say they were found on Reyes' computer after he was slain by commandos in a cross-border
raid into Ecuador.
The electronic files were confirmed to The Associated Press
as genuine by two senior Colombian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the politically controversial nature of the
files.
There are letters describing rebel ties to drug traffickers
- the guerrillas fund themselves mainly through the cocaine traide - and messages chronicling repeated meetings with senior Venezuelan police
officials.
Two letters support allegations by Colombian President
Alvaro Uribe that the rebels gave Ecuador's president an undisclosed amount of money during his 2006 campaign. Another discusses "secret, confidential
relations" with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
It was not clear if the letters were ever sent to their
intended recipients. Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, vehemently denies accepting funds from the insurgents.
"We do not fear being investigated over and
over," he told reporters on Sunday.
Correa's leftist ally, the Chavez government, also
called the documents phony. Chavez acknowledges communications with the FARC but said they have focused on his efforts to broker a swap of imprisoned rebels
for dozens of guerrilla-held hostages.
The letters could complicate efforts to calm a regional
crisis sparked by the raid that killed Reyes.
Venezuela said Sunday that it was restoring full diplomatic
ties with Colombia, broken off to protest the March 1 commando raid that killed Reyes.
At a summit in the Dominican Republic on Friday, Chavez and
Correa shook hands with Uribe, who apologized for the raid. A joint statement committed all parties to fight threats to national stability from "irregular
or criminal groups," a reference to Colombian complaints that its two neighbors harbor FARC rebels.
At least one senior FARC commander, Ivan Marquez, is
believed to live in Venezuela.
Colombia's police chief released a first set of
documents from the laptop three days after Reyes was killed. The documents published Sunday provide a new level of detail.
An excerpt from an Oct. 12, 2006 letter describes
deliberations on how much to give to the Correa campaign. The rebel's top leader, Manuel Marulanda, tells Reyes that fellow members of the FARC's
ruling secretariat differ on whether to donate $20,000, $50,000 or $100,000. Reyes should quickly decide on the amount, he says.
A separate letter from Reyes to Marulanda dated Sept. 17 of
that year discusses "support delivered to the campaign of Rafael Correa" but does not specify an amount or date.
A letter from Reyes to Gadhafi, dated Sept. 4, 2000, seeks
"a loan of $100 million to be repaid over five years" for obtaining "weapons of greater reach. One of the priority needs we have today is to
obtain Surface-to-Air missiles to repel and down combat planes."
A letter to Marulanda dated March 13, with no year
specified, and penned by Marquez, says he and FARC leader, alias "Timochenko," received Gen. Henry Rangel Silva, chief of Venezuela's
intelligence police.
An Oct. 3, 2007, missive from Marquez to Marulanda says
Venezuela's justice minister, Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, suggested Marulanda travel to Caracas for a three-day meeting with Chavez.
Venezuelan government officials had no immediate comment on
the new letters.
The FARC has turned over six hostages to Rodriguez Chacin
this year in what is widely seen as a snub to Uribe for trying to stymie Chavez's mediation efforts with the rebels.
A mediation role for Garcia Marquez on
behalf of U.S. Democrats is detailed in a letter dated Aug. 23 to members of the secretariat from the FARC's chief ideologue, Alfonso
Cano.
"Garcia Marquez is in charge of this mediation with
the FARC on behalf of the USA, and these people want Panama to be the country through which talks with the FARC occur."
The letter says "Clinton told Garcia
Marquez in Cartagena, 'I want to have a personal effort. I want to help Colombia. An agreement with the FARC should be
sought.'"
Garcia Marquez, 80, and Clinton became
friends during the latter's presidency and are known to have met in Cartagena, Colombia, in March 2007 at an homage to the 1982 Nobel laureate in
literature.
Efforts to reach Garcia Marquez through a
spokeswoman and a fax sent to his Mexico City home were unsuccessful.
A recording at Clinton's press office in
New York City asked that e-mail be sent to a spokeswoman, who did not immediately respond.
___
Associated Press writers Dan Keane in Bogota, Ian James in
Caracas, Venezuela, and Gabriela Molina in Quito, Ecuador, contributed to this report.
Group
In this photo released by Colombia's Presidency police chief Gen. Oscar Naranjo shows documents recovered from the computer of the senior commander of the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, killed in Ecuador during a press conference at the presidential palace in Bogota, Monday, March 3, 2008.
According to Naranjo some files recovered from a laptop owned by the rebel leader known as Raul Reyes, who was killed Saturday in an operation by Colombian
security forces just over the border in Ecuador, reveal that the guerillas sent money to Hugo Chavez when he was a jailed coup leader before being elected
Venezuela's president and that Chavez had recently paid US$ 300 million to the FARC. (AP Photo-Cesar Carrion)
What Colombian investigators found on the FARC terror leader's computer:
-- FARC connections with Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa
-- Records of $300 million offerings from Hugo Chavez
-- Thank you notes from Hugo Chavez dating back to 1992
-- Uranium purchasing records
-- Admit to killing the sister of former President Cesar Gaviria
-- Admit to planting a 2003 car bomb killing 36 at a Bogota upper crust club
-- Directions on how to make a Dirty Bomb
-- Letter to Libya's Moammar Gadhafi asking for cash to buy surface-to-air missiles
-- Meetings with "gringos" about Barack Obama
-- Information on Russian illegal arms dealer Viktor Bout who was later captured
-- FARC funding Correa's campaign
-- Cuban links to FARC
...And, more.
Captured FARC terrorist documents link US democrats to the Colombian terrorist group. 16 documents were posted this weekend in the
Spanich Semana magazine. One of the documents mentions that US Democrats were trying to organize meetings with the FARC.
The AP
reported:
New docs detail Colombian rebel ties
By FRANK BAJAK, Associated Press Writer
Mon Mar 10, 3:48 AM ET
BOGOTA, Colombia - Newly published documents released by
Colombia's security forces claim the leftist presidents of Venezuela and Ecuador conspired for months with rebel insurgents who seek to overthrow the
country's U.S.-allied government.
The 16 documents were published Sunday by the news magazine
Semana. They also detail previously unknown relationships held or sought by Latin America's oldest and most potent rebel force, the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
One is a letter to Libya's Moammar Gadhafi asking for
$100 million to buy surface-to-air missiles. Another discusses an apparent effort by U.S. Democrats to have celebrated novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez mediate
talks with the insurgents - possibly with former President Clinton's involvement.
There is no evidence the FARC ever obtained surface-to-air
missiles, however. Attempts to reach Clinton and Garcia Marquez were unsuccessful.
The documents are signed by rebel leaders including Raul
Reyes, the public face of the rebel group. Colombian officials say they were found on Reyes' computer after he was slain by commandos in a cross-border
raid into Ecuador.
The electronic files were confirmed to The Associated Press
as genuine by two senior Colombian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the politically controversial nature of the
files.
There are letters describing rebel ties to drug traffickers
- the guerrillas fund themselves mainly through the cocaine traide - and messages chronicling repeated meetings with senior Venezuelan police
officials.
Two letters support allegations by Colombian President
Alvaro Uribe that the rebels gave Ecuador's president an undisclosed amount of money during his 2006 campaign. Another discusses "secret, confidential
relations" with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
It was not clear if the letters were ever sent to their
intended recipients. Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, vehemently denies accepting funds from the insurgents.
"We do not fear being investigated over and
over," he told reporters on Sunday.
Correa's leftist ally, the Chavez government, also
called the documents phony. Chavez acknowledges communications with the FARC but said they have focused on his efforts to broker a swap of imprisoned rebels
for dozens of guerrilla-held hostages.
The letters could complicate efforts to calm a regional
crisis sparked by the raid that killed Reyes.
Venezuela said Sunday that it was restoring full diplomatic
ties with Colombia, broken off to protest the March 1 commando raid that killed Reyes.
At a summit in the Dominican Republic on Friday, Chavez and
Correa shook hands with Uribe, who apologized for the raid. A joint statement committed all parties to fight threats to national stability from "irregular
or criminal groups," a reference to Colombian complaints that its two neighbors harbor FARC rebels.
At least one senior FARC commander, Ivan Marquez, is
believed to live in Venezuela.
Colombia's police chief released a first set of
documents from the laptop three days after Reyes was killed. The documents published Sunday provide a new level of detail.
An excerpt from an Oct. 12, 2006 letter describes
deliberations on how much to give to the Correa campaign. The rebel's top leader, Manuel Marulanda, tells Reyes that fellow members of the FARC's
ruling secretariat differ on whether to donate $20,000, $50,000 or $100,000. Reyes should quickly decide on the amount, he says.
A separate letter from Reyes to Marulanda dated Sept. 17 of
that year discusses "support delivered to the campaign of Rafael Correa" but does not specify an amount or date.
A letter from Reyes to Gadhafi, dated Sept. 4, 2000, seeks
"a loan of $100 million to be repaid over five years" for obtaining "weapons of greater reach. One of the priority needs we have today is to
obtain Surface-to-Air missiles to repel and down combat planes."
A letter to Marulanda dated March 13, with no year
specified, and penned by Marquez, says he and FARC leader, alias "Timochenko," received Gen. Henry Rangel Silva, chief of Venezuela's
intelligence police.
An Oct. 3, 2007, missive from Marquez to Marulanda says
Venezuela's justice minister, Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, suggested Marulanda travel to Caracas for a three-day meeting with Chavez.
Venezuelan government officials had no immediate comment on
the new letters.
The FARC has turned over six hostages to Rodriguez Chacin
this year in what is widely seen as a snub to Uribe for trying to stymie Chavez's mediation efforts with the rebels.
A mediation role for Garcia Marquez on
behalf of U.S. Democrats is detailed in a letter dated Aug. 23 to members of the secretariat from the FARC's chief ideologue, Alfonso
Cano.
"Garcia Marquez is in charge of this mediation with
the FARC on behalf of the USA, and these people want Panama to be the country through which talks with the FARC occur."
The letter says "Clinton told Garcia
Marquez in Cartagena, 'I want to have a personal effort. I want to help Colombia. An agreement with the FARC should be
sought.'"
Garcia Marquez, 80, and Clinton became
friends during the latter's presidency and are known to have met in Cartagena, Colombia, in March 2007 at an homage to the 1982 Nobel laureate in
literature.
Efforts to reach Garcia Marquez through a
spokeswoman and a fax sent to his Mexico City home were unsuccessful.
A recording at Clinton's press office in
New York City asked that e-mail be sent to a spokeswoman, who did not immediately respond.
___
Associated Press writers Dan Keane in Bogota, Ian James in
Caracas, Venezuela, and Gabriela Molina in Quito, Ecuador, contributed to this report.
"Show me a man that gets rich by being a politician, and I'll show you a crook." Harry S. Truman
