The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) released the Spanish version of their Strategic Dossier Wednesday, titled “The FARC Files: Venezuela, Ecuador, and the Secret Archive of “Raul Reyes,” reported the London-based institute.
The Spanish-language version of the dossier, based on seized computer files from FARC leader Raul Reyes, went on sale September 21 in bookstores in Colombia and other Latin American countries, finally allowing those directly influenced by FARC violence to understand how the group has developed and changed over the years.
The Strategic Dossier in English created waves internationally when it allegedly revealed that FARC insurgents had frequent contact with the Venezuelan governments of Hugo Chavez and his Ecuadorian ally, President Rafael Correa. The document outlines how Venezuala gave FARC leaders refuge, political support, help with weaponry and financial benefits.
The analysis of Raul Reyes’ computers led the IISS to conclude that Correa had “personally requested and illegally accepted illegal funds from the FARC” in 2006, even if in Ecuador the guerrillas never received a “comparable state of support” as in Venezuela.
The veracity and authenticity of the Raul Reyes computer files has often been contested in both Venezuela and Ecuador, even though Interpol dismissed the possibility of them being fabrications and several governments have successfully used the information gleaned from the files as a justification for various operations.
The institute explains that, “with its 447 pages, ‘Los Documentos de las FARC: Venezuela, Ecuador y el Archivo Secreto de ‘Raul Reyes” allows strategic insight into a group that is still part of Colombia’s security concerns. After 47 years of struggle in the jungles, the government’s counter-insurgency strategy is still a work in progress.”