Colombia’s largest rebel group FARC and one of the country’s most powerful drug cartels Los Rastrojos are working on a ceasefire to jointly combat state security forces, the Colombian government says.
E-mails found at computers in the camp of “Mono Jojoy,” the FARC leader who was killed by armed forces in September, show that there are talks between the guerrillas and the Calle Serna brothers, who are leading the drug cartel formed from the ashes of the now defunct “Norte del Valle Cartel,” Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced on Saturday.
According to the President, the two illegal armed groups plan to form one united front against the state and are working on details on imposing taxes on those involved in the drug trade.
The e-mails also show ties to drug lord Daniel “El Loco” Barrera, who has longer been suspected of dealing directly with the guerrillas.
In one e-mail showed by the president, Luis Enrique Calle Serna, alias “Comba,” “proposed that, in the name of himself and that of “El Loco,” they let the FARC know they want to talk, because they are interested in political pacts.”
The FARC has been involved in the drug trade since the 1980s. Los Rastrojos, mostly active in the western Pacific region and the north of Colombia, took over the drug organization previously run by the Norte del Valle cartel, which in turn inherited the illicit business from the Cali cartel.