Colombia’s largest rebel group FARC is planning to open an office in one of the European cities of Amsterdam, Brussels or Paris, newspaper El Tiempo reported on Sunday.
The newspaper, basing its reporting on Colombian intelligence documents, says that the FARC is in touch with the Venezuelan Continental Bolivarian Coordinator (CCB) about the establishment of an office in one of the three mentioned cities.
The FARC itself, because it is on the EU’s terrorist organization’s list, is prohibited from setting up any kind of office within European borders, but the Caracas-based CCB is not considered a terrorist organization and is therefore able to set up an office anywhere in the world.
Rodrigo Granda, considered to be the FARC’s foreign minister, is said to be in close touch with the CCB to coordinate its expansion to Europe.
In an alleged e-mail intercepted by Colombian intelligence units, Granda writes that “it is important to mobilize a significant number of young people, that the organizations in Denmark, Switzerland and France can help us to invite university students and leaders and groups of leftist youngsters.”
According to El Tiempo, it is likely the Bolivarians and the guerrillas have already picked the destination for their office, but the latest information obtained by Colombian intelligence shows the capitals of the France, the Netherlands and Belgium as options.
The FARC is known to have friendly contacts with organizations in Sweden and Denmark and is accused of having ties to Basque separatist organization ETA.
According to previous reports in Colombian media, the FARC already have Europeans from the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland and Sweden in their ranks.