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> Global Intelligence Update
> Red Alert
> March 10, 1999
>
> Venezuela Challenges Verdict in Murder of Americans in Colombia
>
> Summary:
>
> Venezuela's foreign minister has questioned assertions that the
> FARC was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of three
> Americans. Reason suggests the case may deserve a second look.
>
> Analysis:
>
> Venezuela's Foreign Minister Jose Vicente Rangel speculated on
> March 8, 1999 that Colombian right-wing paramilitary groups may
> have been responsible for the kidnapping and murder of three
> American citizens in Colombia on February 25, 1999. In a
> televised report on the incident, Rangel said that, "It could
> have been the paramilitary groups because of the brutal nature of
> the murders.... The [FARC] have denied they were the
> masterminds. Let's see what the paramilitary groups have to say.
> It is an evident act of provocation."
>
> The three Americans, who had been working with the indigenous
> U'wa tribe to build schools, were kidnapped in the Arauca
> Department of Colombia. One of the individuals, Terence Freitas,
> age 24, had been involved with the U'wa cause for more than two
> years. A week after the abduction, their bodies were found
> across the border in Venezuela. The bodies were found 100 feet
> from the Arauca River, which separates Colombia and Venezuela.
> All three had been blindfolded with their hands bound, and the
> two women had been shot 4 times each, while the man had been shot
> 6 times. These facts are generally agreed upon by all of the
> parties involved. From this point, however, the facts of the
> case vary according to the informant.
>
> Rangel's allegation contradicts the conclusion of Colombian and
> U.S. officials, who cite eyewitness accounts and electronic
> intelligence in laying the blame on Colombia's largest leftist
> insurgent group, the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia
> (FARC). First, the U'wa maintain that FARC guerrillas kidnapped
> the Americans. Second, Colombian military and police officers
> lay the blame on the 45th Front of the FARC, based on information
> gathered from intercepted cellular telephone conversations.
> Colombian intelligence officers reported that the Colombian
> National Police had intercepted cellular telephone conversations
> between members of the 45th Front, the leader of the 45th Front -
> - German "Grannobles" Briceno and a top FARC military strategist
> -- German's brother, Jorge "Mono Jojoy" Briceno. According to
> Colombian police sources, they have transcripts of Briceno
> ordering his troops to "take them over to the other side of the
> river [to Venezuela] and burn them." According to police Colonel
> Luis Eduardo Tafur, "Mono Jojoy and Grannobles ordered the deaths
> of the North Americans but asked that it be done on the other
> side of the border to avoid problems."
>
> The FARC, for its part, denied involvement in the killing of the
> Americans, and promised to open an investigation of its own.
> Raul Reyes, one of the top leaders of the FARC, released a
> statement over the weekend in which he denied FARC involvement
> and expressed the insurgent group's condolences. "At this point,
> we're sure," Reyes said, "that the 15,000-member group had not
> responsibility [in the deaths]." Reyes also claimed that those
> responsible are "enemies of the peace", though he did not
> elaborate further on who they might be.
>
> Rangel, apparently, does not place much faith in Colombian
> intelligence reports. We have no way of confirming or denying
> the Colombian army's reports at this time, forcing us to look at
> both arguments with an open mind. While the Venezuelan
> government may simply be covering for the FARC, in hopes of
> rescuing the peace process and ensuring a mediating role for
> Venezuela, Rangel is almost certainly correct in his portrayal of
> the kidnappings and murders as being intentional provocative
> acts. It is unlikely that the FARC, or any other possible
> culprit, singled out and executed three Americans in Colombia
> without having some idea of the potential repercussions.
>
> According to a March 7 article appearing in the Washington Post
> Foreign Service, U.S. and Colombian officials originally thought
> paramilitary groups or drug traffickers were behind the
> kidnappings. If it was the paramilitaries as Rangel suggested,
> and as the U.S. and Colombia originally suspected, the motivation
> is clear. While the peace talks between the rebels and the
> Colombian government are technically stalled, the government
> recently filed an indictment against Carlos Castano, leader of
> Colombia's paramilitary groups. Additionally, the Colombian Army
> launched an operation to find Castano and bring him to justice.
> This can be seen as an effort on the part of the government to
> appease the guerrillas and bring them back to the bargaining
> table.
>
> It is conceivable that Castano could have used this incident to
> head off any effort to repair relations between the government
> and the guerrillas. Castano would have to know that the murder
> of three Americans, allegedly by the FARC, would certainly wreak
> havoc with the peace process. Interestingly enough, a friend of
> Freitas told reporters that Freitas claimed to have been followed
> last year by paramilitaries. Freitas also told a friend that he
> had received anonymous phone calls telling him to "back off or
> die."
>
> If the murders were an effort to scuttle the peace process, they
> are appearing to be successful. Referring to the murders,
> Colombian officials said earlier this week that the peace process
> was close to being canceled. One official labeled the murders,
> "not only brutal, but really, really dumb." Along the same
> lines, an unnamed US official said, "I can't think of anything
> more stupid the FARC could have done. It is just incredible. It
> doesn't fit how the FARC operates." In fact, normally the FARC
> uses kidnappings as a fund-raiser by extorting money from the
> victim's family or employer. Only a fool would think they could
> extort money with a corpse.
>
> If it was the FARC, there is a good chance that the murders were
> carried out by a rogue element within the group. We have
> previously discussed the possibility that there may be splinter
> groups within the FARC. At this time we can see no plausible
> motivation for the FARC to carry out such a politically explosive
> act. However, a splinter group within the FARC may be motivated
> to do so if it meant derailing the peace process. Of course, the
> murders are as likely to bring countermeasures down on the
> splinter group as on the peace process in general.
>
> The other possible culprit is a drug trafficking organization.
> But, given the information available, these murders do not fall
> into the drug lords' motives or modus operandi. Drug
> organizations usually kill people for one or more of the
> following reasons: to keep someone silent, to punish someone for
> not paying, to gain market share, or to make a statement. Since
> it doesn't appear that the three Americans were involved in the
> drug trade, the only motivation left is making a statement.
> Incarcerated Colombian drug lords are once again expressing their
> concern at the possibility that they could be deported to the
> U.S., and have threatened a campaign of violence to forestall
> extradition. However, in the past drug traffickers have usually
> picked more visible and higher profile targets in order to
> achieve this goal, such as politicians, judges, and law
> enforcement officers. They also are very explicit about their
> role, threatening first, killing, and taking credit after. That
> is not the case here.
>
> The murders of the three Americans in Colombia, allegedly by FARC
> rebels tied closely to the drug trade, potentially carry very
> serious repercussions. As we have previously pointed out, the
> U.S. has been performing a policy ballet, funding the war on
> Colombian drug traffickers, explicitly staying out of Colombia's
> war with the FARC, yet linking the FARC and the drug traffickers.
> This delicately balanced argument has been fueled by elements in
> the Colombian government and military that seek greater U.S.
> support for the war against the FARC. We can neither prove nor
> disprove FARC responsibility for these murders. But bearing in
> mind the volatility of this issue, and the potential it carries
> to drag the U.S. deeper into Colombia's domestic problems, it
> would be worthwhile to carefully re-examine the details of the
> case, before the incident alters U.S. policy toward Colombia.
> Something just does not add up here.
>
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