Opposition Senator Piedad Cordoba said Thursday that President Alvaro Uribe is using investigations into the Continental Bolivarian Movement (CBM) as a “smoke screen” to distract from Colombia’s internal problems, El Espectador reports.
Cordoba was commenting on Uribe’s decision to order an investigation into members of the leftist group because they support the FARC.
The CBM is an international group that endorses Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s policies and recently praised FARC commanders ‘Alfonso Cano’ and ‘Manuel Marulanda’.
“The government is trying to get Colombians to believe that neighboring countries are going to attack us,” the ‘Colombians for Peace’ leader stated.
Cordoba has said previously that the government “needs” an atmosphere of conflict in order to win the upcoming 2010 election.