Paraguay is “expectantly” waiting to see if evidence of ties between the Paraguayan People’s Army (EPP) and the FARC is found on the computers of slain guerrilla leader “Mono Jojoy.”
Paraguayan Interior Minister Rafael Filizzola said the government has yet to hear anything regarding such a connection from the Colombian authorities, but thinks that there have been ties between the two guerrilla groups.
“We have sufficient intelligence information that suggests that ties existed,” Filizzola. “Right now, we don’t know if concrete ties continue to exist.”
Flizzola alleges that EPP guerrillas were trained by the FARC, and that the Paraguayan rebels likely have financial, drug, and arms trafficking connections with the Colombian guerrillas. He said that the group is considered to be criminal by Paraguay, but they don’t currently control any territory.
The EPP, a Marxist group, formed in 2008 and opposes the government of Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo. They accuse him of representing an oligarchy and opposing agrarian reform.
The Colombian government found the computers in what Colombian authorities call the “mother camp” of the country’s largest guerrilla group. A raid on this camp in September killed the FARC’s military chief Mono Jojoy, and resulted in the seizure of a large quantity of computer files by the army. The authorities expect analysis of all the computer files found in the camp to take months.