Colombia Makes Conflicting Statements on Venezuelan Ties to FARC

[seemslikeadream]

By: Jonah Gindin – Venezuelanalysis.com

Colombia’s Minister of Defense Jorge Uribe denied accusations that Venezuela was harboring guerillas three days after the capture of Rodrigo Granda in Caracas. He made the comments during an interview on Venezuelan state television while he was visiting Venezuela.

Granda, the ‘foreign minister’ of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) was kidnapped in Caracas last December 13 and illegally transported to neighboring Colombia by Venezuelan police who were allegedly bribed US$350,000 by Colombian officials.

The video of Jorge Uribe speaking with Venezuelan journalist Ernesto Villegas was re-released recently by Venezuelan state television. In response to Villegas’ question regarding the Minister’s opinion of accusations that Venezuela was harboring FARC terrorists, Jorge Uribe answered: “If we had the conviction and proof that this was the case, I wouldn’t be sitting here. The truth is that everything that has been said in this respect, none of it has been proven. And meanwhile, the reception of myself… and of our military forces has indicated to us the good intentions of the Venezuelan government and of the Venezuelan military. Let’s leave these rumors aside and continue working together…and build upon the many positive aspects that we share.”

The Minister’s statement, made on December 16, 2004 three days after the kidnapping of Rodrigo Granda, contrasts sharply with the Colombian government’s most recent communiqué on the matter. In the ‘Casa de Nariño’ statement, released on January 16, 2005, Colombia promises to “hand over proof to the Venezuelan government regarding the protection that functionaries of that country have provided to Mr.Granda,” and refers to Venezuela as a “terrorist hotel.”

According to US Ambassador to Colombia, William Wood, the Colombian government has 100% full support of the United States government. On Monday, the US sent a letter to the governments of South America, urging them to pressure Venezuela to cut its ties with the FARC and other terrorist groups. In a press conference today, White House spokesman Richard Boucher reiterated the Bush administration’s preoccupation with “any relationship might have with the…the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the FARC, and Colombia's other terrorist organization.”

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1482


FBI Destroyed Jorge Eliecer Gaitan Files
por Paul Wolf Thursday, Jan. 27, 2005 at 10:45 PM
[e-mail] 01 202 364 6188 Washington DC

Historiador, estudiante de derecho, activista social, dissidente political


1. FBI Destroyed Jorge Eliecer Gaitan Files

2. Prosecution of Simon Trinidad

3. Loyal Soldiers / America's Other War

4. Colombia Makes Conflicting Statements on Venezuelan Ties to FARC

5. The Granda Kidnapping Explodes

6. Venezuela: Colombia sends list of FARC leaders


*** Press Release ***

For more information contact:
Paul Wolf, [e-mail], [phone]

Washington DC, January 27, 2005

In 1972, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) destroyed many of its documents related to Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit has revealed.

The case, Wolf v. CIA and FBI, was filed in US District Court in Washington DC in April of 2001. After more than three years of litigation, the FBI finally released approximately 720 pages. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the released material did not concern Gaitan directly. It consisted of scattered pages of reports about the Partido Socialista Democratico (PSD, the name of the Colombian Communist Party in the 1940s) and the Confederacion de Trabajadores de Colombia (CTC, an important labor union). Only those pages of the reports mentioning Gaitan by name were released, and many were heavily redacted, sometimes without citing any FOIA exemption.

Shortly after the case was filed, the FBI released a 14 page document about Gaitan's presidential campaign, dated April 8, 1946, and asked the court to dismiss the case. However, the released document itself stated that future reporting on Gaitan and his movement would be filed under the heading "Political Situation in Colombia -- Foreign Political Matter." (document online at http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/gaitan/fbi8abril1946.htm)

In July of 2004, Judge Richard J. Leon dismissed the case against the CIA, and ordered the FBI to search for the additional file labelled "Political Situation in Colombia -- Foreign Political Matter." In November and December of 2004, the FBI released about 720 pages, consisting of a main file of about 86 pages (the Foreign Political Matter file) and about 634 pages of cross references - which are pages in other files mentioning Gaitan's name. In addition, the main file contained a statement that many of the documents in the main file had been destroyed in 1972. (see )

more
http://colombia.indymedia.org/news/2005/01/21639.php