Narco-rebels say Venezuela aiding them, more help coming from Democrat president
WASHINGTON – A laptop computer captured in the possession of a slain Colombian revolutionary provides tangible evidence Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is aiding the narco-rebels and that they see more help coming next year if Barack Obama becomes president.
The laptop was seized Saturday after a raid by Colombian government forces on commandos of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Some 23 rebels were killed in the raid, including Raul Reyes, their leader. The files on the computer provide details and context to what the Colombian government claims is Chavez's effort to subvert the U.S. ally.
Venezuela says the documents are lies. Obama's campaign has not commented on the allusions to a relationship between the Democratic presidential candidate and the Chavez-backed, drug lords of FARC.
The files reveal correspondence between the most prominent members and leaders of FARC:
Reyes, the FARC's foreign minister and public face;
Manuel Marulanda, the rebels' 77-year-old supreme leader;
Jorge Briceno, their much-feared field marshal;
Ivan Marquez, the insurgents' apparent go-between with Chavez. Marquez is believed to live in Venezuela.
Copies of 13 documents were sent to reporters yesterday by Colombia's national police chief, Gen. Oscar Naranjo. They suggest Chavez, seeking to raise the FARC's stature, is conspiring with Venezuela to topple Colombia's president, Alvaro Uribe.
In one note, Briceno discusses a desire to undermine Uribe by making him cede a safe haven to the rebels for talks on a prisoner swap.
"Uribe will become more isolated, together with his boss from the North," a clear reference to President Bush, whose government provides Colombia with some $600 million a year in military aid.
Writing two days before his death, Reyes tells his secretariat comrades that "the gringos," working through Ecuador's government, are interested "in talking to us on various issues."
"They say the new president of their country will be (Barack) Obama," noting that Obama rejects both the Bush administration's free trade agreement with Colombia and the current military aid program.
Reyes said the response he relayed is that the U.S. would have to publicly express that desire.
Another message, to Reyes from a lower-ranking commander and dated Feb. 16, includes mention of a possible purchase of 50 kilos – 110 pounds – of uranium.
Uribe's government has claimed that means the FARC was seeking to build a dirty bomb. But the message discusses a different motive: selling the uranium at a profit.
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