Leaders of Colombia's two largest guerrilla groups, FARC and ELN, met three times on Venezuelan soil to agree the recently announced non-agression pact and improve cooperation between the groups' armies, newspaper El Tiempo reported on Sunday.
The newspaper based its article on intelligence reports by the Colombian military and the testimonies of demobilized ELN guerrillas.
According to the quoted intelligence reports, the first meeting followed a public statement by ELN commander "Gabino," calling for the leftist groups to end hostilities and join forces to combat the Colombian state.
The first meeting, between "Alan Garcia," ELN's top commander, and Rodrigo Granda, the FARC's "foreign minister," took place in the west of Venezuela at the end of July. During this meeting, the ELN commander repeated his public requests for a cease fire, and the ELN and FARC delegates returned to their bases to propose new strategies to attack the Colombian army, the intelligence reports say.
In September, again in the western Venezuelan state of Zulia, the two guerrilla groups met again to move forward with their attempts to stop hostilities and increase cooperation between the leftist insurgents.
According to the intelligence reports, a third meeting was held at the end of October, this time attended by the FARC's number two, "Ivan Marquez," and "Gabino." The guerrilla groups this time were able to reach agreement and the joint public statement wherein the FARC and ELN expressed their aim to unite was released.
The two groups agreed that the FARC would compensate victims of attacks by their guerrillas on members of the ELN and there would be closer contact with the Bolivarian Continental Coordinator, a Caracas-based group that seeks unity among left-wing movements in Latin America.
Both groups allegedly agreed to stay away from Venezuelan government officials to avoid inconveniencing the government of leftist President Hugo Chavez. However, in case of war between Colombia and Venezuela - something both guerrilla groups see as probable - the ELN and FARC would give military support to the Venezuelan army, the intelligence reports say.
Both the FARC and ELN have been fighting the Colombian state since the first half of the 1960s and are considered terrorist groups by both the Unites States and the European Union. A different ideology and conflicting interests have led to numerous violent clashes between the two groups over the guerrillas' 45 years of existence.
Bluebird
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... The agreement speaks volumes of the nature of the relationship between these two groups and Chavez............but it's nothing we didn't already know. Disgusting. |
Boris
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... Bluebird you make me laugh. I fully agree with you on this article no question they're thugs and mass murderers, but whuy is iut you never criticize anything criminally right-wing no matter how heinous? I've never seen you criticizing anything right-wing.....at all. There's a story about the paras causing displacement on here today and there's no condemnation, nothing, yet here's the FARC/ELN and you're straight in there banging your drum! |
Bluebird
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... Boris.... I think we both agree that the heinous slaughter of innocents is equally repulsive whether it comes from the ultra left or the ultra right. I wanted to post a comment beneath that article saying something to that effect but, as you may have seen, adriaan has asked that my myself and a few others refrain from commenting on the article for the time being and I fully intend to honor that request but yes, I agree with you that murder of innocents by the paras is just as despicable as murder of innocents by farc or eln. Thanks for the opportunity to clear up the mis-understanding. Have a good one..... |
Adriaan
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... @ Boris, We all have specific topics where we feel more need to comment. Some will comment on left-wing violence to highlight their disgust. Others will feel more for responding to articles that highlight paramilitary violence to group X, others prefer commenting on articles on porn stars or minority rights. We all have our personal agenda with the topics we feel passionate about. However, not commenting does not mean condoning or not caring. Regular readers of CR, especially those you see commenting often, are confronted with many sides to one story and, even though they will not immediately write a comment on every article, they are likely to take it to heart and let it be part of their future considerations. Instead of demonizing those who speak out, but we disagree with, we should take their arguments and their concerns seriously. You and Bluebird just found out you have a lot in common, even though you both have different priorities in what you feel must be denounced first. |
Revid Diver
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... Both groups are scum. The pact reflects the pressure the Colombian Army are putting them under. It says it all that they would help the Venezuelan Army if it invaded Colombia. I think this is called treason !!!!!!!. Hang em high!!!!! |
Dev
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... I am doing research on the whole Colombia Armed Conflict and would love to hear more about it. While doing some research I have found that even though this has been taking place for 50years, it does not get much news coverage in the United States. If you have the time please email me. I feel like the more information I can gather will allow me to see the many different sides of this conflict and better understand it. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |
Rola
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... Alan Garcia? i think you mean ANTONIO Garcia! Alan Garcia is the president of Peru..... what a huge mistake ! |
