Politics
The Colombian government said on Tuesday that the growing financial problems facing the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) have forced the group to seek funding from kidnappings and extortions in Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela.

Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos told reporters that the main source of funds for the Caribbean Block of the FARC is kidnapping in the border area with Venezuela, while other factions of the rebel group engage in the same illegal activity in neighboring departments, EFE reported.

"The best examples of these activities are Fronts 41st and 59th, engaged in extortion and kidnappings of Venezuelan businessmen and merchants," Santos explained.   

The Colombian minister stressed that climbing crime rates in border areas are the result of the precarious economic situation facing the guerrilla. The rebels are "so broken they no longer have money to pay debts."

Santos said that one single front of the FARC owes some USD 8.5 million to the coca growers and they do not have money to pay. 

"In some cases, growers have been murdered for asking the guerrillas to pay," Santos asserted.

He also clarified that due to the pressure exerted by troops, the rebel group is no longer the largest producer of cocaine. Santos explained that the rebels have contented themselves with the production of coca base, which has an extremely low yield for drug-trafficking organizations.

"While in the past some commanders handled up to USD 15 million as 'petty cash,' today they do not have enough money to buy food for their members," said Colombia's Defense Minister.

He added that the precarious situation of the guerrilla contrasted with the situation of the wealthy members of the FARC Secretariat, who own large sums of money using front men and relatives.

According to Santos, the FARC are receiving less than 4 percent of the income they obtained from kidnappings when President Álvaro Uribe Vélez took office. "We have reduced kidnappings considerably. Additionally, when they kidnap, their demands are considerably lower," he said. This is the reason why the FARC are kidnapping more people in neighboring countries.

The relations between Venezuela and Colombia have improved after months of tensions due to an impasse related to President Hugo Chávez's mediation with the FARC to negotiate a humanitarian swap.

President Chávez has branded Santos as "enemy" of Venezuela, and claims that the Colombian official has an interest in undermining bilateral relations.

Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas