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Caribbean-Latin America

Aftermath of the Mono Jojoy raid: computers and a Number Three

2010-09-26

BOGOTA -- Colombian authorities say the data found on 15 computers, 94 USB devices and 14 hard disks at the camp of slain FARC military chief "Mono Jojoy" is many times more valuable and revelatory than that discovered after a 2008 cross-border airstrike into Ecuador that killed another top rebel commander. Whee! Lots of fun for the forensic programming johnnies! I wonder how many of the contacts they find will be with local representatives of Hizb'allah or the Iranian Revolutionary Guard? And how many with the eight whose homes in Minneapolis and Chicago were searched on Friday by the FBI anti-terrorism division... That assessment appeared in an article published Saturday by Bogota daily El Tiempo, which added that the Dijin investigative police force's forensic informatics division was charged with evaluating the computer data. Guys, I'm sure the FBI or Mossad will be happy to lend you some of their spare people, should you want some extra pairs of hands. The analysis has concluded thus far that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, guerrilla group restricts its use of mobile phones and other electronic devices to the minimum for fear its communications will be intercepted. Instead, they rely on couriers to carry USB memory sticks from one camp to another. Next they'll want to restrict footgear, although going barefoot has its own peculiar risks when trotting down jungle trails. The investigators note, for example, that no cellular or satellite phones were found at the camp in south-central Colombia where Victor Julio Suarez Rojas, better known by the aliases Jorge Briceño or "Mono Jojoy," was killed in an airstrike Wednesday along with a score of other guerrillas. Among other things, the investigation has shown that the computers found at the camp were 2009 and 2010 models, one of which apparently was used exclusively by the FARC military leader. That computer's screen was damaged but the hard disk drive was practically intact and authorities were able to gain access to the data. Authorities expect to find, in addition to e-mails, videos and recent plans for kidnappings and attacks on towns and security forces. In March 2008, following a cross-border attack that killed Luis Edgar Devia, better known as Raul Reyes, in Ecuador, authorities recovered a computer and some USB devices of the FARC's No. 2 and international spokesman. But authorities believe the data from Mono Jojoy's camp is more important because the military chief handled more of the rebels' internal information, and that this blow to the FARC therefore leaves the group even more vulnerable than it was after Reyes' death. The FARC, which has fought a decades-old struggle against a succession of Colombian governments but has seen its numbers fall by more than half in recent years to roughly 8,000 fighters, had suffered a series of setbacks prior to the strike against Mono Jojoy. And that Number Three: BOGOTA -- Colombian army troops killed the leader of the 45th Front of the FARC in a gun battle in Arauca province, which borders on Venezuela, officials said Saturday. The commander of the 18th Army Brigade, Gen. Rafael Alberto Neira Wiesner, told reporters that the death of alias "Hugo Hernandez" will come as a relief for inhabitants of the Tame area, who have been at the mercy of this individual who constantly collected extortion money from them." The guerrilla of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, was surprised, together with other rebels, as he was collecting an extortion payment. When he saw he had been discovered, a battle broke out that ended with the death of the guerrilla who coordinated extortions for the FARC's 38th, 45th and 56th Fronts. Not nearly as creative as the Rab encounter reports, but one can imagine how it must have been. Hugo Hernandez, 35, had been with the FARC for 17 years, and was accused of attacking several towns in the province of Cundinamarca, where the nation's capital Bogota is located, as well as carrying out assaults on Tame and Saravena, two of the main cities in Arauca province. Wanted on twelve systems, even his mother didn't love him... and can you blame her, a badman miscreant like that?

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Caribbean-Latin America

Chavez Called Raul Reyes on Cell -- then BOOM Reyes Dead!

2008-03-07

H/T Gateway Pundit A phone call Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez allegedly made to rebel leader Raúl Reyes revealed the location of the guerilla leader, according to Colombian intelligence reports radio station Radio Cadena Nacional (RCN) disclosed on Wednesday. The phone call was made last Wednesday, February 27, the day when the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) delivered four former Colombian lawmakers -Gloria Polanco, Luis Eladio Pérez, Orlando Beltrán, and Jorge Eduardo Gechem- to Chávez's government after almost seven years in captivity, Efe reported. "Chávez was thrilled by the release of the hostages, and called (Luis Edgar Devia, alias Raúl) Reyes to tell him that everything went well," said RCN, quoting "senior (Colombian) military sources." Intelligence agencies detected the call and uncovered that Reyes was in Colombia, near the border with Ecuador. He crossed the border and "then the raid was launched" late February 29 and early March 1, when the FARC leader and other 20 rebel troops were killed. According to RCN, "the same intelligence agent, who called for anonymity, said 'it is quite ironic that it was precisely a phone call from President Chávez what allowed us to take Reyes out of action." Reyes died in a bomb attack Colombian troops launched against his rebel camp in Ecuadorian territory. The incident ignited a serious diplomatic crisis between the two countries, as Quito severed ties with Bogota. Quoting the same intelligence source, RCN reported that the top leader and founder of the FARC, Pedro Antonio Marín, also known as Manuel Marulanda Vélez and Tirofijo, "is taking shelter in Venezuela." RCN added that the Colombian intelligence services "found that Tirofijo is ill" and "is taking shelter in a ranch in Venezuela located not very close to the border, but to the other side of the border with the Colombian department of Norte de Santander." According to RCN's intelligence source, "Chávez ordered military battalions to move to the border with Colombia to protect Tirofijo, to prevent him from being done in the Venezuelan territory the same thing Reyes was done in Ecuador." Video of the Raid

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Caribbean-Latin America

Farc aura of invincibility shattered

2008-03-02

The death of Raul Reyes marks the first time a member of Farc's ruling body, the Secretariat, has been killed in combat during four decades of fighting. "This is the greatest blow to Farc to date," said Colombian Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos. He was flanked by smiling commanders of the security forces at a press conference describing the operation that led to the death of Reyes, whose real name was Luis Edgar Devia. The operation to kill Reyes began in the early hours of Saturday morning when the Colombian army received confirmation from a spy that the guerrilla commander was in a hamlet called Santa Rosa just across the border in Ecuador. Planes were sent to bombard the camp, followed by troops in helicopters who recovered the bodies of Reyes and another 16 rebels. Also among the dead was Guillermo Enrique Torres, alias Julian Conrado, a Farc commander known for his music, who had released several compilations of revolutionary ballads that he wrote and sang. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe spoke to his Ecuadorean counterpart Rafael Correa informing him of the action. Final phase The killing of Reyes has shattered the myth of invincibility that surrounded Farc's leadership. The group's founder and leader, Manuel Marulanda, whose real name is Pedro Marin, is now in his 70s. He has survived numerous attempts on his life and previous members of the Secretariat have all died of natural causes. "This heralds the final phase of the war," said retired General Harold Bedoya, a former head of the armed forces. What the operation shows is that the intelligence wing of Colombia's security forces has managed to penetrate even the close circles of Secretariat members. Communication intercepts The government has set up a network of informants, runs reinsertion packages for deserting rebels and offers handsome rewards for information. In the past few days, almost $900,000 was paid for the capture of a Farc commander with 35 years of service. All this is combined with technology and communication intercepts provided by Washington. Roman Ortiz, an analyst with the Bogota think tank Ideas for Peace Foundation, believes this is a blow Farc will have difficulty recovering from. "This is a definitive blow to the guerrillas and one which will seriously affect their cohesion as an organisation," he said. The death of Reyes will hurt Farc diplomatically as he was the head of the International Front, the part of the guerrilla movement dedicated to developing foreign contacts and links with like-minded organisations. During the failed peace process with former president Andres Pastrana which ran from 1998-2002, Reyes headed Farc's negotiating team, based in Los Pozos, a dusty hamlet in the 42,000 sq km safe haven that the government granted to the guerrillas as the venue for talks. Cold War rhetoric A squat figure, Reyes was held both in affection and a little awe by the rank and file guerrillas. He was the public face of Farc, baffling both national and international journalists with a discourse straight out of the Cold War, by then just a memory. During the innumerable interviews I had with him he never deviated from the party line, was unfailingly polite and unswervingly orthodox in his Marxist Leninism. Reyes also played a pivotal role in the issue of hostage releases. It was he that met with Colombian senator Peidad Cordoba, who has been working with President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, securing the release of six of the 40-odd political hostages in Farc hands. The guerrillas want to exchange the remainder of their prisoners for hundreds of rebels in Colombian jails. Farc has said it will not release any more hostages until the government grants it a demilitarised zone to negotiate, something President Uribe has ruled out. While unprecedented in its scale, this is not the first time a Farc commander has been killed in a military operation, with an infiltrator pinpointing a location and the Colombian air force dropping massive amounts of ordnance on the site. In a grave blow to Farc finances the head of the 16th Front, Tomas Medina, alias Negro Acacio was killed last September in a similar operation, this time in the province of Vichada, by the Venezuelan border. He was one of Farc's drug lords, handling the exportation of cocaine, one of the main sources of revenue for the guerrillas.

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Caribbean-Latin America

Senior FARC leader killed 'in action'

2008-03-01

A top commander of Colombia's left-wing guerrillas, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), has been killed, the government says. Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos told reporters Raul Reyes had been killed in combat. He died with other rebels during an attack on the town of Tetey, local radio reported. Also known as Luis Edgar Devia, Reyes was one of seven members of Farc's secretariat, and the group's spokesman. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has received billions of dollars in aid to fight the rebels from the US administration, which along with the EU views Farc as a terrorist organisation. While Colombian troops have recently retaken control of areas previously held by rebel groups, the rebels retain a strong hold over Colombia's more remote regions. Despite recent hostage releases brokered by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, scores of hostages - including the French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt - are still being held by the rebel group.

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