El Pais: Chavez and Belarus were going to weapon FARC
13:47, — Politics
According to the information of the Spanish newspaper, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez tried to weapon Columbian rebels with the help of Belarus.
This information is found on the documents found on a computer of a killed FARC leader.
It is supposed that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez tried to arm Columbian rebels with the help of Belarus. El Pais reported on Saturday, quoting the documents from a computer of a killed guerrilla leader.
The Spanish newspaper quotes a February 8 e-mail message of Ivan Marquez, leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) saying Chavez had considered with Belarus authorities the possibility of providing weapons to FARC.
The email was alleged to have been found in the files of a seized computer of Raul Reyes, FARC commander, having been killed in March, El Pais said.
The partially encoded message mentions a “Belarusian friend,” identified by El Pais as Viktar Sheiman, secretor of the Security Council of Belarus.
El Pais added that other possible sources of arms supplies for FARC (in particular air-to-ground missiles) were mentioned in the message as well as Australian illegal dealers.
El Pais is the most influential left-of-center. The newspaper wrote in December Venezuela was a safe haven for FARC and guerrilla camps are situated on its territory. Venezuela denies it.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday US intelligence officials said a cache of computer files closely tying Chavez to Colombia’s rebels appeared to be authentic.
The files describe meeting between guerrilla commanders and high-ranked Venezuelan officials, including Chavez, the newspaper informs, reviewing more than 100 files from Reyes’s computer.
The FARC is making war for 40 years. The FARC was initially supported by the military wing of the Communist Party, but in course of time is has become obvious that FARC activity reduced to drug traffic and banditism, and the communist broke relations with the FARC.
Presidents of Venezuela and Ecuador, who came to power on the tide of anti-American populism, for a long time hate Colombia’s president, who is a reliable US ally, resting on Washington’s assistance in the fight against drug mafia and guerrillas.
The war in Colombia encourages oil prices growth in the world.
Venezuela insists the files Colombia had found after the attack of a guerrilla camp in Ecuador, are faked.
"We don't recognize the validity of any of these documents," Bernardo Álvarez, Venezuela's ambassador to the US, said in a interview to the Wall Street Journal. "They are false, and an attempt to discredit the Venezuelan government."
Viktar Sheiman paid some visits to Venezuela last year. Officially, he is responsible for Belarus-Venezuela joint projects on oil recovery and building. The open Belarus-Venezuela military cooperation is limited.
Amton Taras, according to foreign press.
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