The Colombian government says they have discovered an email that links Colombia’s two largest rebel groups to a plan to join forces in May for major attacks, national media reported Tuesday.
During a military operation against FARC’s Oriental Block on January 7, the army confiscated a computer of the insurgency.
One of the emails found in the computer revealed FARC’s plans for new attacks in the upcoming month when the rebel group will celebrate 50 years since it was established, according to national newspaper El Tiempo.
FACT SHEET: FARC
The email discloses a possible alliance of FARC and ELN for the planned attacks, as ELN seems to be a key player in these operations.
“There will be maximum effort done in order to coordinate with our ELN comrades. The day to be ready is the 1st of May” says the document, according to El Tiempo.
FACT SHEET: ELN
According to the alleged email , the insurgency’s plan is “to select feasible military objectives and that they impact (…)and seriously affect the economy” as well as to attack the energetic system of the country, block main roads and use “snipers, explosives and shipyards against various nation-wide military objectives,” reported El Tiempo.
The person in charge with the coordination of these attacks is believed to be Jaime Alberto Parra alias ‘Mauricio Jaramillo,’ El Tiempo said.
Alias ‘Mauricio Jaramillo’ is the heir of Oriental Block after the death of the high-ranking member of the FARC, alias Mono Jojoy, in 2010. Parra was one of the eight members accused of perpetrating one of the most notorious attacks in the history of the country’s decades-long armed conflict.
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Parra also played an important role in the early stages of the peace talks with the government in Havana as he was one of the insurgency’s spokesmen.
The talks began formally in November 2012 and aim at putting an end to the FARC’s 50-year war against the state. However, no ceasefire agreement was put in place prior to the start of talks, and both parties have continued offensive campaigns against the other.