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| Terror Networks |
| Provocative material in FARC computers needs broad disclosure and analysis |
| 2008-03-10 |
| By Jonathan Winer - Counterterrorismblog.org Remarkably, the Andean crisis over Colombia's cross-border raid into Ecuador ended as quickly as it erupted today, after the presidents of the two countries shook hands at a regional summit broadcast on live television through much of Latin America. At the summit, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who had backed Ecuador's Rafael Correa in condemning Colombia's actions, also embraced Colombia's Alvaro Uribe. In the meantime, the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo has published excerpts from the e-mails found on the computers of Raul Reyes, the FARC commander killed by Colombia in its raid. The excerpts are provocative, if inconclusive, describing apparent communications between the government of Venezuela and FARC regarding President Chavez's facilitation of prisoner exchanges; the details of multi-million dollar cocaine deliveries; and possible transactions between FARC and unspecified Middle Eastern groups to gain access to ground-to-air missiles. What is striking on this last point is the congruence between the FARCs discussions of getting such equipment, and the sting operation run against arms merchant Victor Bout detailed in the U.S. indictment filed in connection with his arrest in Thailand. There have been conflicting accounts of whether the material found in the computers had any role in Bout's arrest, given the months of work that had already gone into the sting operation directed at him by the Drug Enforcement Administration and detailed in the indictment, whose chronology ends in February 2008. It appears that the array of FARC e-mails may provide a unique window into FARC's international operational, financial, and political networks and operations. As the threat of war recedes, hopefully, more of this material will make its way into public view to enable broad analysis of its implications, and soon. |
| Posted by:3dc |
| #3 I recall some support from the democrat party. hmm |
| Posted by: newc 2008-03-10 12:24 |
| #2 More importantly, European leftists funding FARC. Hope Columbian victims or their families sue them for their last Euro. |
| Posted by: ed 2008-03-10 09:54 |
| #1 also interesting would be the emails between FARC and supporters in leftist groups in the US (I'll bet there are lots of these). |
| Posted by: mhw 2008-03-10 09:01 |