Government Not Covering
Up FARC Ties, Says
Minister Arias; Laura
Chinchilla Named
Security Minister
The Fiscalía General de
la República confirmed
yesterday that it knows
of the that the
Colombian rebel group,
the Fuerzas Armadas
Revolucionarias de
Colombia (FARC),
presence in Costa Rica
since 2006.
And that due to the lack
of co-ordination and the
late reports by the
Dirección de
Inteligencia y Seguridad
Nacional (DIS) - Costa
Rican secret service -
it has not been able to
determine if the group
was involved in criminal
activities in the
country.
However, the ministro de
la Presidencia, Rodrigo
Arias, is not in full
agreement with the
statements by the
Fiscalía, saying that
"affirmation without
foundations" have been
made.
Arias added that he had
asked former Seguridad
Pública minister,
Fernando Berrocal, who
left his post on Sunday,
to hand over a report he
had prepared for his
appearance before the
Legislative Assembly on
Monday.
Arias said that Berrocal
had made the public
statements without
foundation last March 15
after judicial officials
raided a home in
Heredia, finding
us$480.000 in cash
belonging to the FARC.
Minister Arias assures
that there is no list of
Costa Rican politicians
linked to the FARC and
that the government is
not covering up
anything.
"Officially no such list
exists", Arias
emphasized.
The minister said that
vice-president, Laura
Chinchilla, would take
over Seguridad on an
interim basis.
Following the
announcement,
Chinchilla, said that
she will not allow the
efforts so far to go by
the wayside and would be
travelling to Colombia
in the coming days to
learn first hand of the
information contained in
the personal computer of
Raúl Reyes, who was
killed by the Colombian
army on March 1. Reyes
had been the number 2
man in the FARC.
Chinchilla added that
communications between
the Poder Judicial
(judicial authorities)
and the presence of
police in the streets
will continue and will
defend the actions
presented in the
Legislative Assembly,
especially the creation
of a commission
investigating any links
between Costa Rican
politicians and the FARC. |
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