“The emails raise serious questions about Venezuela’s relationship with the Colombian guerrillas that deserve serious answers,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch in a press release.”At the very least, they appear to show that the guerrilla commanders who were engaged in horrendous abuses believed they had the backing of the Venezuelan government,” Vivanco added”For any government to support a guerrilla group like the FARC that routinely commits atrocities against civilians is entirely beyond the pale,” said Vivanco. “If the contents of these emails are in fact accurate, they show that the FARC was set to receive much more than rhetorical support from the (Venezuelan President Hugo) Chávez government.”According to Bogotá, Reyes’ computers were seized following the shelling by the Colombian Army of a FARC camp in Ecuador last March 1.The Colombian government insists that the files found in the laptops account for links between the Colombian guerrillas and the governments in neighboring Venezuela and Ecuador.
HRW asks Venezuela to clarify alleged FARC ties
