The FARC, Narco-Terrorism, and Hugo Ch=E1vez
The recent hostage rescue has cemented anti-FARC sentiment; now
Ch=E1vez's role must be made clear
By Diego Arria , Richard Brand
Posted July 14, 2008
This month's spectacular rescue by Colombian commandos of 15 hostages,
including the politician Ingrid Betancourt and three American defense
contractors, from a six-year captivity cast an international spotlight
on the miseries inflicted by the terrorist group responsible for the
kidnappings, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
One of seven rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia,
FARC, who surrendered to the Army.
(Christian Escobar Mora/AP) Related News
Charities Crushed Under Soaring Demand
Whispers: John McCain's Home While He Was a POW in Vietnam
The CIA's Ex-Allies Who Now Kill Americans
Barone: Uribe Vindicated, FARC More Like Farce
Video: Rescued Colombia Hostages Head Home to Fla.
Much of the FARC's strength is derived from its protection of an
illicit narcotics trade that channels cocaine to North American
communities. But the recent hostage rescue has also drawn attention to
the real role played by Venezuelan leader Hugo Ch=E1vez in using the
FARC in an effort to destabilize the government of Colombia's
President Alvaro Uribe, his regional archrival.
During a previous commando raid in March, which killed FARC second in
command Raul Reyes at his Ecuador campsite, Colombian soldiers
recovered files from Reyes's laptop showing, among other things, that
high-ranking Venezuelans had schemed with the FARC to supply the group
with high-tech weapons, ammunition, and a $300 million grant. The
files also detailed plans to exploit the hostage issue for political
gain.
Ch=E1vez's sup****t for the FARC has been known and tolerated for some
time. Indeed, Venezuela has been harboring the group's leaders, who
have operated openly within Venezuela's borders. Ch=E1vez's ban on
overflights by U.S. planes participating in antinarcotics operations
in Colombia and his government's refusal to cooperate with the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration have also benefited the FARC
immeasurably. It is no coincidence that during Ch=E1vez's presidency,
Venezuela has turned into a major conduit for the trans****pment of
cocaine.
Despite the FARC's killing of thousands of civilians and its continued
holding of 700 hostages, among them Venezuelans, the oil-rich Ch=E1vez
government confessed its direct sup****t for and solidarity with the
region's most notorious terrorist group. During a speech this spring
before Venezuela's congress and an assembled diplomatic corps, Ch=E1vez
asked that the FARC be removed from U.S. and European terrorist lists,
insisting that the group "deserves recognition" as "insurgent forces
that have a political project, a Bolivarian project that is respected
here."
It seems clear today that Ch=E1vez's earlier involvement in appearing to
negotiate the release of FARC hostages was not a humanitarian act but
rather cold political grandstanding intended to enhance his status and
that of the FARC. It is suggestive of the amicability between Ch=E1vez
and the FARC=97and perhaps fitting punishment for their collusion=97that
when the Colombian commandos duped the FARC out of its most im****tant
assets, they chose as a disguise clothing and aircraft similar to
those used by previous Venezuelan delegations.
Evidence of Ch=E1vez's sup****t for the FARC has been revealed just as
the Colombian military has made its biggest advances in its strategy
of eliminating the group's leaders while encouraging defection among
the rank and file. The rescue of Betancourt and the three American
hostages deprives the group of its most valuable bargaining chips.
What's more, the hostages' stories have helped cement world opinion
against the FARC. Marc Gonsalves, one of the rescued Americans,
described being held in chains while tropical diseases ravaged his
body. His message to the FARC and its sympathizers, conveyed by media
across the world: "FARC, you are terrorists...terrorists with a
capital 'T.' "
Since the discovery of the Reyes laptop files and the rescue of the
hostages, a shaken Ch=E1vez has been forced to adopt a more cooperative
tone. This is all good, but Ch=E1vez's track record suggests that once
the pressure is off, he will revert to his old ways. So it is
im****tant to keep the pressure on by confronting him with the
consequences and implications of harboring and abetting narco-
terrorist organizations.
Colombian intelligence agencies should publish the thousands of
unreleased files from Reyes's laptop, which are widely believed to
contain further details on Ch=E1vez's dealings with the FARC and other
terrorist groups. Further, any Venezuelan officials implicated in
sup****ting the FARC or other terrorist groups should have their assets
frozen and travel restricted, as recently happened to a Venezuelan
diplomat accused of raising funds for Hezbollah and establi****ng a
Hezbollah center in Caracas. The United States should also strengthen
Uribe's hand in fighting the FARC by reducing existing trade barriers
with Colombia, which will send a message across the world that the
United States stands with its allies in the fight against terrorism.
Diego Arria is a former Caracas governor and Venezuelan ambassador to
the United Nations. Richard Brand is an attorney and a former foreign
correspondent for the Miami Herald
|
