Killed FARC Rebel Leader
Lived in Costa Rica
A Foreign Ministry press
statement yesterday over
the delicate affair in
South America said that
Costa Rican president,
Oscar Arias, had spoken
to his counterparts in
Colombia, Alvaro Uribe
and Rafael Correa in
Ecuador, over the
weekend, telling the two
that the conflict is a
bilateral affair that
Venezuela's Hugo Chavez
should not be meddling.
The statement comes
after Ecuador broke
diplomatic ties with its
neighbour and at the
urgence of his ally,
Correa mobilized
Ecuador's troops to the
Colombian border.
Venezuela did the same
and offered Ecuador any
and all help if it
needed it against any
further incursions by
Colombia.
The conflict arose from
the killing of Colombian
rebel leader Raul Reyes,
who was killed by
Colombian armed forces
in Ecuador. Reyes was
the number 2 man of the
Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Columbia (FARC),
Colombian rebel group.
Reyes had lived in Costa
Rica between February
and June 1998 and had
met with Arias during
the 1990's to discuss
peace initiatives with
the Colombian
government, according to
the Spanish language
daily, Al Día.
That revelation was made
in December 2000 to La
Nación newspaper
journalist Edgar
Fonseca, who visited a
FARC camp in San Vicente
del Caguán in Colombia,
who was told that the
Reyes was in Costa Rica
on a "clandestine
mission" and on the
knowledge and
authorization of the
Figueres Olsen
administration(
1994-1998).
According to Reyes (in
2000), the FARC had
representation in Costa
Rica under the Rodríguez
administration
(1998-2002) but the
relations were not as
close as with the
Figueres Olsen
administration, though
denying that Costa
Ricans were involved in
the movement in
Colombia, rather Costa
Rica was seen as a prime
country in the search
for peace.
Colombian authorities
say that the found
documents on Reye's
computer showing that
Venezuela had paid the
FARC rebels some us$300
million dollars.
Luis Guillermo Solís, a
political analyst with
the Universidad de Costa
Rica (UCR), says that
the conflict will not
transcend to the
diplomatic arena nor
will it create border
wars between the
countries.
The Organization of
American States (OAS)
will be holding an
emergency session
beginning today (March
04) to review the
problem and seek a
peaceful solution to the
conflict.
Reyes was a member of
the seven-member FARC
"secretariat", the
shadowy inner circle of
commanders and
policy-makers. Reyes
travelled abroad to
cultivate links with
like-minded
organizations (including
the IRA), and even held
talks with a US State
Department official in
Costa Rica in 1997.
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