home > by publication type > daily analysis > Linking Venezuela and the FARC
Email
| Author: |
|---|
A protest against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in the streets of Caracas in February 2008. (AP/Howard Yanes)
Roughly two months after Colombian forces crossed into Ecuador to kill a FARC guerilla leader, INTERPOL certified the authenticity of eight FARC laptops seized by the Colombian government. The finding strengthened Bogota's claims of a link between Venezuela and the FARC guerilla group. Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez rebuffed the forensic analysis and, with characteristic flourish, called the head of INTERPOL a "gringo policeman." Yet leaked emails (Miami Herald) from the laptops indicate evidence of Venezuelan financial and arms support for the FARC. If substantiated, these reports could deal a serious blow to regional security and further undermine U.S. relations with oil-rich Venezuela.
Despite the troubling signs, experts warn against hasty conclusions. The leaked emails rely solely on correspondence among FARC rebels, they note, not messages between Venezuelan officials and the FARC. Adam Isacson, director of the Center for International Policy's Colombia program, suggests more solid evidence is necessary before considering international action. He adds, however, that if the allegations are proven true, Venezuela will almost certainly be added to the U.S. State Department's list of state sponsors of terror, and that Colombia could seek sanctions against it through the UN Security Council. The U.S. intelligence community is also examining the documents, though one senior U.S. official tells the Wall Street Journal, "There is complete agreement in the intelligence community that these documents are what they purport to be."
The Colombia-Venezuela dispute is the latest permutation of a regional power struggle between the United States and its allies and a group of nations more sympathetic to Chavez's left-wing populism. Colombia is the closest U.S. partner in Latin America and has received billions of dollars in counternarcotics aid since 2001. Chavez has seized on these connections. "The U.S. empire has taken over Colombia," he said in March 2008 (AP). Simultaneously, experts say Chavez stokes nationalist sentiment at home by accusing the United States of plotting to invade Venezuela.
A vocal group of Republican lawmakers has requested Venezuela's addition to the U.S. state sponsors of terror list. A Washington Post editorial suggests the United States impose targeted sanctions against those implicated by the laptop evidence. Yet many experts and policymakers urge a more cautious approach. An April report prepared for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee advises against unilateral sanctions, suggesting instead that Washington speak "with gentle persuasion, and wise counsel." Some analysts believe that Washington will hold off on sanctions or terror list pronouncements because of worries over how such moves might affect the global oil market (TIME).
Other experts worry a deterioration of U.S.-Venezuela relations could undermine regional counternarcotics policy. Washington has built its policy around the multibillion Plan Colombia package, but without cooperation from Colombia's neighbors, experts say the drug trade will continue to flourish. "The regional collaboration needed to make headway in the drug fight has largely disappeared," writes Ray Walser of the Heritage Foundation. Meanwhile, transnational drug gangs have grown more sophisticated. Markus Schultze-Kraft of the International Crisis Group tells CFR.org that links between gangs and state institutions such as the police and judiciary pose a tremendous challenge to Latin America governments. A new CFR Independent Task Force report says drug trafficking contributes to an alarming spread of violence in Latin America. It calls for a multipronged effort including beefed-up U.S. and European policies to target demand for drugs in their countries as well as regional cooperation to limit the spread of guns.
Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.
In The Closing of the American Border, Edward Alden goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the Bush administration’s struggle to balance security and openness in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In Termites in the Trading System, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how the rapid spread of preferential trade agreements endangers the world trading system.
America Between the Wars explores how the decisions and debates of the years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Twin Towers shaped the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.
Complete list of CFR Books.
This report argues that the United States must lead with domestic action on climate change and proposes a U.S. negotiating strategy for a global UN climate agreement that includes commitments from all major economies, while also promoting a less formal Partnership for Climate Cooperation that would focus the world's largest emitters on implementing aggressive emissions reductions.
This Task Force report examines changes in Latin America and in U.S. influence there, while taking account of the region's enduring importance to the United States. The Task Force offers an agenda for U.S. policy toward Latin America and identifies four critical areas that should provide the basis of a new U.S. approach.
About Independent Task Forces at CFR.
In this report, CFR Senior Fellow Michael A. Levi analyzes the potential use of deterrence in preventing terrorist groups from acquiring nuclear weapons and recommends a new approach to U.S. declaratory policy, as well as ways to improve U.S. capabilities to determine the sources of terrorist attacks.
In this report, Bruce W. MacDonald illuminates the strategic landscape of military space competition between the United States and China and highlights the dangers and opportunities the United States confronts in space.
Complete list of Council Special Reports.
“ The Latter-Day Sultan:” Akbar Ganji says that blaming Iran's problems on President Ahmadinejad inaccurately suggests that Iran's problems will go away when Ahmadinejad does.
To order Task Force reports, Council Special Reports, and Critical Policy Choices, please call, fax, or order online from our distributor, the Brookings Institution Press: phone +1.800.537.5487, fax +1.410.516.6998.
For information on other reports that are not for sale, or for general publications information, please call +1-212-434-9516 or email publications@cfr.org.
To request permission to reuse Council materials, please email publications@cfr.org or fax +1.212.434.9859.
Please include the complete information of the requested work—author, title, sections/pages to be copied or reprinted, and number of copies to be made—along with a brief description of where and how you would like to reuse the work.
You may also request permission for Council material through Copyright Clearance Center. For more information, please click on the link below.
Copyright 2008 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.
