FARC's terrorist diplomacy reaches Germany
By Jonathan Winer
A recent article in the German online publication, Der Spiegel, provides further insights into FARC's efforts to get itself off international terrorist lists.
According to Der Spiegel, documents provided to it by Colombian officials said to be from the seized compters of the late FARC #2 leader Raul Reyes, obtained in Colombia's March 1 cross-border raid of a FARC camp in Ecuador, describe FARC meetings in Berlin with a representative of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) -- the successor party to the East German Communist party, who is today a member of the German parliament with the Left Party and the party's foreign affairs spokesman.
According to e-mails provided to Der Spiegel, the German politician said he that the PDS would make an effort to get the European Parliament to remove FARC from the list of terrorist organizations. Significantly, this internal e-mail is corroborated by external events: in June 2007, the Left Party circulated a proposal that FARC be removed from the European Union's list of terrorist groups.
Other e-mails, previously released by Colombia, described FARC diplomatic initiatives with political leaders in Ecuador and Venezuela, with suggestive hints of outreach to varous European countries. This e-mail is the most specific to date about particular meetings, particular individuals, and confirmable real-world political events. On Saturday May 24, the German politician, Wolfgang Gehrcke, admitted his contacts with the FARC, saying his efforts were undertaken in an effort to end Colombia's civil war. Separately, Colombian officials are opening investigations into domestic politicians found to have worked with the FARC according to information on the guerrilla computers. They have also found e-mails showing ongoing contacts between FARC and a U.S. academic, James C. Jones, who has been involved in efforts to secure the release of FARC hostages.,
In the meantime, Colombia's Semana magazine states that a senior official in Colombia has confirmed the death of the FARC's top general and leader, Manuel "Tirofijo" Marulanda, reportedly of a heart attack in the jungle in March. If true, this would be merely the latest of a series of blows to the FARC that in addition to Marulanda's and Reyes' deaths have included the recent surrender of a top female guerrilla, Nelly Avila Moreno, who gave herself up on May 18 after 24 years with the guerrilla movement.