Legislator and Former
President Reject Ties To
The FARC
The question of the
Fuerzas Armadas
Revolucionarias de
Colombia (FARC) -
Colombian rebel group
-ties to Costa Rican
politicians continued
earlier this week with
the appearance of former
ministro de Seguridad,
Rogelio Ramos, before a
legislative commission.
Ramos told the
commission that he was
contacted by him and the
FARC and that he met
Granados and shared
emails with other FARC
leaders whose intent was
to set up a base in
Costa Rica.
Ramos was emphatic that
he shut the doors on the
rebels, evidenced by the
fact that they never did
set up base in Costa
Rica.
Legislative deputy, José
Merino del Río, of the
Partido Frente Amplio
and former president,
Rodrigo Carazo, rejected
that they have any
current ties with the
FARC.
The declarations were
made following the
publication of a
document by the Policía
Nacional de Colombia
detailing the 36 times
Costa Rica is mentioned
in the emails found in
the computer of killed
number 2 FARC leader,
Raul Reyes.
In the Colombian report,
Merino and Carazo are
mentioned in the emails
as FARC contacts in
Costa Rica.
Carazo, who was
president between 1978
and 1982, said he is
bewildered to learn that
his name was mentioned
in the list of Costa
Ricans named in the
Reyes computer.
Carazo added that Reyes
must have confused him
with that of his son,
Rodrigo Alberto Carazo
Zeledón, who in 2002 was
a legislator for the
Partido Acción Ciudadana
(PAC).
Merino added that his
relationship with FARC
members was to negotiate
peace and was broken
when the Costa Rican
government decided to
end its role in the
peace negotiations and
the FARC denied
permission to open an
office in Costa Rica.
That all happened in
2001, according to
statements made by
Rogelio Ramos, who told
the legislative
commission that Merino
had a private
relationship with the
FASRC between 1998 and
2002, while Ramos was a
legislative deputy.
Ramos was emphatic that
the relations were in
the context of
negotiating peace in
Colombia and was
sponsored by both the
Colombian and Costa
Rican governments of the
time.
Former president Carazo
accepted that he met
with FARC rebels at his
home, again in the
context of negotiating
peace to free 70
soldiers being held
hostage, in June 1997.
Carazo added that he not
more than three meetings
in total with the
rebels.
"My house everyone
knows, here the door is
never closed, nor are
there drapes on the
windows. I give face to
all the circumstances,
however I tell you that
many people have come to
my house with have been
involved in conflicts. I
can tell you that I have
not only spoken to
Colombians by also those
of other countries where
luck has allowed me to
help them", said Carazo.
Merino on his part added
that he and is party are
open to investigation
and if need be the case
should be sent to the
Ministerio Público so
that prosecutors can
determine if any crime
was committed.
Merino's wife's family
is also mentioned in the
Reyes emails, Merino
saying that his father
in law, Eduardo Mora,
probably had
conversations with the
FARC rebels,
conversations that may
have taken place in
Costa Rica at he
beginning of the decade.
"It is logical that they
(the FARC) believed that
those of the left could
understand their
position and what they
were proposing to do in
the country", said
Merino.
Merino added that his
father in law is now 85
and though lucid, cannot
remember clearly the
meeting. "If they were
thinking in Mora, for
sure they were thinking
about peace", said
Merino, adding that the
Mora Valverde family has
never thought of
injuring the peace in
Costa Rica.
Other names mentioned in
the Reyes emials were
that of Jorge Arguedas,
leaders of the ICE union
and Saul Umaña, head of
the sociación Nacional
de Empleados Públicos y
Privados union.
|
