May 5th

Interpol confirms authenticity of Raúl Reyes's computer files
The information found in the computers of the deceased leader of the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), Raúl Reyes, was not manipulated by Colombian authorities, according to an Interpol's report to be released next May 15, as disclosed by Bogota El Tiempo daily newspaper.

The report stated that a committee comprising computer science experts from Korea, Australia, and Singapore working for the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) completed last May 2 the investigation into the three computers found in Reyes' camp in Ecuador, Efe reported.

"The first finding was that Reyes' files were not manipulated and that security agencies and citizens who had the computer in their hands kept them safe," the Colombian newspaper stated.

May 6th

US Senate Committee probes Chávez
The US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations ponders to penalize Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez if the ties between Venezuela and the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) are proven.

This is the main conclusion gotten from a document prepared by the Committee and disclosed by newspaper El Tiempo.com.

Such report recommends including Venezuela in the list of terrorist countries as the authenticity of Raúl Reyes' computer files was confirmed.

If this suggestion is accepted, "US legislators must ensure that the law is crafted carefully based on a flexible approach. Thus, it can guarantee that sanctions affect Chávez, and do not strengthen his chances to manipulate public opinion in his favor, both in Venezuela and South America," ElTiempo.com reported.

Lula presumably ready to help US calm Chávez down
In March 2005, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva offered the US government to help soothe Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and defuse the tension in Bolivia with the impending takeover of Evo Morales, said on Tuesday a Brazilian newspaper.

The then Brazilian Chief of Staff José Dirceu conveyed the proposal to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, according to a telegram sent from Washington to the US embassy in Brasilia and accessed by daily newspaper Valor, Efe reported.

The telegram, to which the economic daily asked for access after having expired the legal secrecy term, is the abstract of a conversation held by Rice and Dirceu on March 3rd, 2005 in Washington. At that time, Dirceu was viewed as the Brazilian President's right hand. Later on, he was forced to resign amidst a corruption scandal.

In the conversation, according to the paper quoted by the daily, Rice said that Brazil should cash in on its influence on the hemisphere to send Chávez a "clear message."

US Senate deems it risky linking Chávez with terrorism
The US government should take care of its influence in Latin America if it is going to take unilateral actions against Venezuela in the event of proving any links between Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), said a report of the US Senate.

Some lawmakers, particularly Republicans, have requested to add the government of Chávez, an outspoken critic of Washington, to a list of countries that sponsor terrorism. A decision in this regard could lead to multiple, even economic, sanctions on Venezuela.

However, a 49-page report accessed by Reuters warns that taking such decision without the support of organizations such as the Organization of American States, could be counterproductive for the United States. The report was authored by Carl Meacham, advisor to Senator Richard Lugar, the highest ranking Republican in the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

May 8th

Bush: Chávez turned Venezuela into a safe haven for FARC
"To counter the influence of an anti-US Venezuelan government," US President George W. Bush advised US Congress to endorse a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Colombia. However, his motion is rejected by most Democratic Party members.

Colombian President Álvaro Uribe "is facing continued affront from the terrorist group called (Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces) FARC," said Bush. In his opinion, the Colombian government faces also the influence of an "anti-US neighbor, such as Venezuela," Efe reported.

"In the middle of the fight (against FARC) Uribe has been faced with the setback of the lack of cooperation from Venezuela -a country whose soil has become a safe heaven for FARC units," said Bush.

If the ties between Chávez's government and FARC are proven true, the US administration could include Venezuela in the list of countries sponsor of terrorism, which comprises Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria.

May 9th

US Intelligence links Chávez with FARC
Officials of the US Intelligence think that the computer files that tie Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) are true and accurate, reported on Friday The Wall Street Journal.

The files, all of them of 2007, depict meetings between guerrilla commanders and Venezuelan government authorities, including Chávez, according to the daily, based on the review of more than 100 papers.

"There is complete agreement in the intelligence community that these documents are what they purport to be," a senior US official told the daily with regard to the files that, according to the Colombian government, were taken from the guerrillas following a raid to one of their camps.

The files indicate that Venezuela apparently made concrete offers to help arm the FARC, the daily said, and also the use of one of its ports to receive arms shipments. In another document, a high-ranking official asked FARC to train Venezuelan military in guerrilla warfare.

Interpol to disclose report of authentication of Reyes' computer
Interpol is to submit next Thursday, May 15th, to Colombian authorities a public report and findings on its forensic analysis of the informational material seized from the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), followed by a press conference.

Previously, the Colombian authorities will receive the confidential version of the report.

Pursuant to an agreement executed with Colombia on March 12th in Bogotá, the Interpol aid would include sending a crisis management taskforce to Bogotá in order to get exact copies of the data contained in three laptops, three USB keys and two external drives. Afterwards, they would conduct an independent analysis of the data, said the agency website.

Santos: FARC is in Venezuela and nothing happens
Colombian intelligence agencies found that a chief of the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) is present in Venezuelan territory and despite having conveyed "many times" that information to President Hugo Chávez' government "nothing happens," said Colombian Minister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos.

Rebel chief Iván Márquez, the successor of FARC second-in-command Raúl Reyes -who was killed by Colombian troops during a raid in Ecuador last March 1st- "is in Venezuela. Many times have we provided the coordinates and the information (to the Venezuelan government) and nothing happens," Santos lamented.