The Colombian government confirmed Wednesday that the FARC guerrilla group have logistic and trafficking networks in Brazilian territory, and use the Amazon River to transport drugs, reports CM&.
The statement comes after a Brazilian newspaper report claimed that the Colombian rebel group had “bases” in neighboring Brazil.
Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva said that the FARC had “networks” across the border, including use of “the free [Amazon] port city of Manaus,” and added that Brazil “are starting a difficult process, by sharing intelligence with us” to determine the exact nature of FARC presence in Brazil.
Silva stressed the importance of the two governments working together in the fight against drug trafficking and guerilla groups.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva’s adviser on international affairs, Marco Aurelio Garcia, said that if it were “certain” there were FARC guerrillas in Brazil they “would be arrested.”
Garcia added that he had no specific information, but stressed that Brazilian armed forces “are highly qualified to eliminate such threats.”