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."