By Richard McColl
BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) – Colombian authorities claimed Tuesday to have information regarding offshore bank accounts and investments belonging to FARC guerrillas that the group obtained through its involvement in the illegal drugs trade.
Speaking from Washington DC, Colombian Attorney General Juan Fernando Perdomo said his office will aggressively pursue any overseas financial interests belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and its members.
“We have a great deal of information on this subject, in fact, from the very beginning of the negotiations with the FARC, we opened an investigation solely based on the ways in which the FARC has financed themselves,” said Perdomo.
He confirmed that the guerrilla group, which has been involved in a long-running conflict against the Colombian state since 1964 and is now engaged in peace dialogues with the government since November 2012, holds real estate investments overseas and that his office is working closely with international authorities to locate properties.
“The FARC has traditionally financed themselves by way of criminal activities such as kidnapping, illegal mining, extortion and drug trafficking,” said Perdomo. “Much of this money has been invested overseas. We have information regarding investments and property overseas in Central America, particularly.”
While the FARC has yet to respond to the latest accusations, rebel spokesperson Ivan Marquez strongly denied all accusations last December.
“The FARC has no money,” he told the BBC. “In discussions people always say that we have bank accounts, that we have lots of money in fiscal paradises but we have told the Colombian government and their negotiating team that they can take the contents of these accounts and put them in a fund for reparations. But, the reality is that we don’t have any. This is simply a media campaign to convince the people that we have untold wealth, but we don’t,” he added.
Peace talks between the FARC and the Colombian government being held in Havana are negotiating the terms of a bilateral cease-fire and how to end the conflict.
