A subsidiary of the China National Petroleum
Corporation (CNPC) in Colombia bribed the FARC in exchange for permission to
operate in guerrilla territory in the west of the country, an ex FARC
hostage denounced.
Ex Congressman Oscar
Lizcano alleges that “socialist China is willing to work with the FARC”, in a chapter in his book ‘Years in Silence’, which will be released this week, El Heraldo reported Monday.
Lizcano was a kidnapped by the FARC on August 5, 2000 and held hostage for eight years. He escaped with the help of a deserter in October 2008.
A few passages from his book were published in the local press last Sunday. In them Lizcano claims that on seven separate occasions a helicopter belonging to Bureau Geophysical Processing, a subsidiary of CNPC, visited FARC camps.
“The purpose [of these visits] was nothing other than to reach an agreement over a millionaire contribution on the part of the multinational to bring supplies and medical assistance to the ‘Aurelio Rodriguez’ front of the subversive group,” Lizcano claims.
According to Lizcano, contact between the Chinese multinational and the FARC began in the Choco jungle in 2006. They came to an agreement whereby CNPC paid the FARC to allow them to search for oil deposits.