FARC rejects Chavez´s call for unconditional release of hostages (updated)

Updates:  On 13 June 2008, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa backed the Chavez's proposal and asked FARC to give up arm struggle. Correa also stated his government was willing to participate in the humanitarian liberation of hostages and needed no permission to do so. Furthermore, Correa offered the territory of Ecuador as a humanitarian place to proceed with the release of hostages.  In a related event, it also emerged that one of the three Colombians detained last night for attempting to kill President Correa is a member of a rightist paramilitary organization in Colombia.  

Caracas, Venezuela, 12 June 2008. In an article published by Anncol today, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rejected the proposal made by Venezuelan President on Sunday asking for the unconditional release of hostages. FARC stated it continued to ask for the release of its own prisoners in Colombian and American jails in exchange of the hostages.

According to the article, FARC distanced itself from suggestions made by Chavez over their continuing struggle and the peace process in Colombia. FARC remembered its willingness to participate in previous peace dialogues like those held in Tlaxcala (1991-1992) and Caracas (1991) and Caguan. However, it noted the the Colombian oligarchy was not interested in bringing peace at all. It was them-as enemies- that determined the kind of struggle in Colombia; it is an armed conflict.

Commenting over the suggestion made by Chavez that a revolutionary armed struggle was outdated in Latin America, FARC stated it was a very personal and respectable view of the Venezuelan President. However, FARC would not cry over it. In addition, FARC recalled how a previous attempt to include itself into the political life in the mid eighties through a left-wing political party-Patriotic Union- ended tragically. The Patriotic Union disappeared by 2002 after five thousand of its members were systematically killed by the Colombian rightist oligarchy, drug traffickers and paramilitaries.  

The article also answered Chavez´s suggestion that FARC armed struggle justified the presence of American troops in Colombia. It stated his assertion made a pig's ear out of the situation. Then, it hinted that some more thoughtful reading of Bolivar, Marx and Lenin was needed (by Chavez) to understand the mighty imperialism of modern times and its military resources. FARC also expressed its understanding of the current democratic changes taking place in Latin America and would not miss the opportunity to include Colombia in it; however, as circumstances showed, the armed struggle was in the current circumstances the only way to that democratic road, it added.

Finally, the FARC article pondered over the timing of Chavez´s proposals.  Almost at the same time President Chavez was delivering his speech on Sunday, FARC leader Ivan Marquez was voicing his concern over the continuation of an Uribe plot to kill him and Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. In a related event today, Ecuadorian authorities detained three Colombian men that were supposedly attempting to kill President Correa. 

Just few months ago Chavez asked the International Community to consider FARC as an insurgent force under the laws of war. No wonder, his recent proposals made last Sunday have been debated in different quarters.   While Colombia and US have both welcomed it, local opposition has claimed caution over the intention of such strategic move of a 180° in Chavez´s foreign policy. On the other hand, British The Economist has argued such change is motivated by the threatening content of a FARC laptop belonging to No 2 FARC leader Raul Reyes and some domestic policy considerations like the November local election. Nevertheless, the fact remains Chavez changed its policy towards FARC and such move could delay the liberation of hostages under a humanitarian agreement. In addition, Colombian Senator and international hostage negotiator Piedad Cordoba has confronted serious attempts to stop her moves towards a humanitarian agreement. Finally, it is unclear whether FARC remains a united guerrilla organization after the death of its founder Manuel Marulada. Recent news over the possibility of some hostage liberation in exchanges of Uribe´s promise to stop extradition to US, poses questions over the real command of FARC new leadership or its current oranizational integrity. 

Sources: Anncol, RCN, Globovision, Medios para la Paz, Caracol, The Economist, BBC Mundo, AlJazeera, El Espectador,   

Related stories: Chavez asks new FARC leadership to liberate all hostages unconditionally, Uribe proposes FARC hostage liberation in exchange of no US extradition, FARC: Uribe still attempts to kill both Hugo Chavez and Rafael Correa,