FARC And The Chavez Regime In Venezuela
By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in FARC Drug Trafficking | Foreign Affairs | Hugo Chavez | Venezuela — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
There is a connection. Key passage:
All the sources I reached agreed that powerful elements within the Venezuelan state apparatus have forged a strong working relationship with Farc. They told me that Farc and Venezuelan state officials operated actively together on the ground, where military and drug-trafficking activities coincide. But the relationship becomes more passive, they said, less actively involved, the higher up the Venezuelan government you go. No source I spoke to accused Chávez himself of having a direct role in Colombia's giant drug-trafficking business. Yet the same people I interviewed struggled to believe that Chávez was not aware of the collusion between his armed forces and the leadership of Farc, as they also found it difficult to imagine that he has no knowledge of the degree to which Farc is involved in the cocaine trade.
As ever, I am uncomfortable with anonymous sources. But I would be lying if I said that this news surprised me.