Colombia: Reyes was negotiating when he was killed
March 5, 2008
French negotiators were warned hours before not to meet with Reyes in the next hours. Uribe had given guarantees so that they could discuss the release of hostages. The Colombian president was only supported by Washington.
The Colombian government first apologized and then accused Venezuela and Ecuador of connivance with the guerrilla.
In an escalation of the tension unleashed by the crisis generated by the Colombian military's invasion into Ecuadorian territory, Ecuador broke relations with his neighbor, and the OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, called for an extraordinary meeting of the Permanent Council today. In the midst of announcements about the mobilization of Venezuelan and Ecuadorian troops to their border with Colombia, the government said that it will not move its military (which are already deployed all around its territory), but it harshly attacked Venezuela's and Ecuador's presidents by accusing them of connivance with the FARC. The Colombian President, Álvaro Uribe, have come under widespread criticism of governments of all around the world for having violated Ecuador's sovereign territory. One of the harshest criticisms came from the French government, represented by France's Foreign Affairs Minister, Bernard Kouchner, who regretted Raúl Reyes' death, the second-in-command of FARC, and revealed that they had been negotiating Ingrid Betancourt's release for several months.
The strong reaction of France, whose government publicly expressed its unrest with Uribe, demonstrated some aspects of the context and events surrounding the Colombian military operation in Santa Rosa, Ecuador, two kilometers away from the border with Colombia, where two armed helicopters practically reduced a FARC camp to dust and killed 20 guerrilla members, including Raúl Reyes.
In secret, and in full agreement with Uribe, President Sarkozy had kept three personal emissaries in Colombia since October last year in order to negotiate with Reyes and achieve the release of the French-Colombian former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. The three French negotiators were in an area close to the place where the attack took place. Last month, another Sarkozy's special emissary held a meeting with the High Commissioner for Peace Luis Carlos Restrepo, which belongs to Uribe's government. On Saturday, it seems, the three French negotiators were located 200 kilometers from the attack zone and were on their way to meet with Reyes when they received a phone call from Restrepo. The Colombian High Commissioner for Peace warned them not get closer to the meeting point in the next hours.
In France, they assume Uribe's government has a negotiating wing and a harsh one. Restrepo would represent the negotiating wing and the sectors related to the Armed and Security Forces would represent the harsh wing, which carried more weight in order to make the decision and attack. Beyond political analysis, the French authorities can not hide their indignation because Uribe was aware of the negotiations and guaranteed that the Colombian military would not act while negotiations were developing. According to France, the death of Reyes in the context of these negotiations represents an obstacle difficult to overcome in the mid term; France holds Uribe responsible for this situation.
All international expressions rejected the military intervention ordered by Uribe. The stands range from the Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's harsh words to the Peruvian President Adán García's, who called for dialogue and made clear that he rejected the violation to Ecuador's sovereignty. Colombia was only supported by the United States. First, the Spokesman for the White House National Security Council, Gordon Johndroe, expressed his surprised "for President Chávez's odd reaction." Later, an official statement of the U.S. Department of State: "We support the government of Colombia's fight against terrorist organizations threatening stability and democracy."
The U.S. administration's support was better understood when the National Director of he Colombian Police, General Oscar Naranjo, revealed at a press conference that Reyes was found thanks to information provided by the CIA. According to Naranjo, the U.S. agency had traced a cell phone sporadically used by Reyes. The Colombian police chief stressed that this information was shared with the Colombian Armed Forces ten days before the day of the attack. Thus, he confirmed that the operation had been undertaken several days before and that it had developed even while the French emissaries were still negotiating with the FARC. It was not a defensive action as the Colombian government first said.
In the midst of these contradictions, the Colombian Defense Minister, Juan Manuel Santos, showed his surprise for Correa's "changing" reactions. Santos said on Saturday that Uribe explained what happened to Correa, and that the Ecuadorian president had reacted quietly and just urged Uribe to apologize. "But on Sunday, after President Chávez's statements, Correa changed his mind." On Saturday, Uribe told Correa that it had been a defensive reaction and that his soldiers involuntarily entered Ecuadorian territory, chasing the guerrilla members who had attacked them. On Sunday, Correa found out that the guerrilla members were sleeping when their camp was bombarded. After talking with other governments, he concluded that the attack had been planned with anticipation. Uribe lied to him and did not tell him that he was preparing an invasion into Ecuador's territory. Correa's unrest was sparked off by his neighbor's deceit.
In less than an hour, the Colombian government changed his stand, and instead of apologizing, it started a fierce attack against Correa and Chávez y accusing them of connivance with the guerrilla. General Naranjo showed the journalists files of one of Reyes' computers. First, he referred to an e-mail sent by Reyes to the FARC's Secretariat that reported a meeting with the Ecuadorian Security Minister, Gustavo Larrea where the captives' situation, as well as other details of FARC's negotiation, was discussed.
After reading three paragraphs of the document, Naranjo insisted that Quito had to explain Colombia and the world "what was the state of the Ecuadorian government's relation with a terrorist group like the FARC, and why they held interviews and had contact with Raúl Reyes in Ecuadorian or Colombian territory." Then Santos, the Colombian Defense Minister, directly accused the Ecuadorian government of connivance with the guerrilla. In Euador, Larrea acknowledged that he met with Reyes in January, "outside Ecuador and Colombia" and that they exclusively talked about the release of captives "as part of an effort made by other countries too." After Santos' accusation, Correa decided to break diplomatic relations, request international support and send 3,600 soldiers to the border with Colombia.
In Bogotá, Santos and Naranjo continued exploiting Reyes' computers. They denounced that another message showed that Chávez had donated US $ 300 million to the Colombian guerrilla. They finally pointed out that other file showed that the guerrilla had bought 50 kilograms of nuclear material in order to develop weapons.
Meanwhile, the South American Ministries of Foreign Affairs carried out a hectic work. Brazil's President Lula da Silva and Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner talked to Uribe and Correa. Both governments condemned the territorial violation undertaken by Colombia, but they made efforts to prevent an intensification of attacks that could lead to war. Correa had requested an urgent meeting at the OAS in order to discuss the crisis, but the United States tried to delay the meeting.
Finally, the South American Ministries of Foreign Affairs, especially Argentina's, Brazil's and Chile's, managed to made Insulza decide to hold the meeting today. It will be difficult for Colombia to keep pushing his accusation regarding Ecuador's and Venezuela's relations with the guerrilla because many governments also participated in the negotiations, including France's, Spain's and Switzerland's. Neither will it have the support of the region regarding the U.S. President George Bush's thesis that war against terrorism goes beyond borders or laws. In addition, Uribe will not count with a good record since he also deceived many of the governments that will attend the meeting.
http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/1-100096-2008-03-04.html
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