The FARC appear to have asked the Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi for a $100 million loan in order to buy missiles, while also corresponding with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega over the coordination of Libyan support in the region.
The Europa Press Agency published a report Monday, sourcing information from the seized computers of slain FARC commander “Raul Reyes,” who was killed by the Colombian army in Ecuador on March 1, 2008.
A letter from the FARC addressed to “Comrade Colonel Muammar Gaddafi,” dated September 4, 2000, reportedly thanked the Libyan leader for his treatment of FARC leaders in his country, while simultaneously requesting a five-year loan of $100 million to buy surface-to-air missiles.
Although it is unknown whether either money or weapons were ever actually delivered, the news agency reports that there was another letter found on the computer that was destined to be delivered “by hand” to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.
Dated February 23, 2003, the second letter was addressed to “Dear Comrade Daniel” and communicated Gaddafi’s confidence in the FARC’s operations, as well as marking out a regional role for Ortega in the administration of Libyan support.
“The Libyans have told us that political responsibility for Libyan operations in the region are in the hands of Ortega,” the letter supposedly said.
Ortega was a key member of the left-wing Sandanista’s who wrestled for control of Nicaragua in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. After serving as president during some of that period, he has remained an influential figure in Nicaraguan politics. Despite three failed presidential campaigns, he eventually regained control in 2007.