Hugo Chavez, Colombia, and the FARC: A Change of Heart?

June 16, 2008 | Heritage Foundation

By: Ray Walser

For months, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were the darlings of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. He urged the public to consider the FARC noble freedom-fighters rather than a pack of narco-terrorists. He praised them as a Bolivarian Army on a sacred mission to drive the United States out of Columbia. Chávez even entered into secret talks with the FARC, promising the organization arms and money.

When the FARC's second-in-command, Raul Reyes, died in a Colombian military strike in Ecuador, Chávez eulogized him as a "good revolutionary" and ordered ten battalions of troops to the border with Columbia. Soon, storm clouds of war hovered over Caracas and the Andean region.

Suddenly, on June 8, 2008, these clouds appeared to part. During his weekly television show, Hello Mr. President, Venezuela's maverick leader urged the FARC's new commander, Alfonso Cano, to free hundreds of hostages held by the guerrillas. Making a 180 degree shift in policy, Chávez also encouraged the FARC to enter into peace talks with the government. "At this moment in Latin America," he declared, "an armed guerrilla movement is out of place."

An exploration of the factors behind Chávez's rhetorical shift reveals that now is not only the time to seek release of the hostages held by the FARC, but also an opportunity to bring lasting peace to Columbia.

The Chávez Shift

Qué pasa? Why the sudden change? For all his bluster, President Chávez knows the computer files that belonged to Reyes held a cache of evidence documenting his government's material support of the FARC. For instance, by late 2007 and early 2008, Chávez was enmeshed in efforts to free FARC hostages. Under the pretense of creating a humanitarian accord, he secretly offered the FARC guns, money, and his public support.

The death of both Reyes and the FARC's historic leader Manuel Marulanda, along with the recovery of the FARC computers, seems to have dashed the possibility of any such offer, weakening ties between the Venezuelan leader and the FARC. In light of the FARC's recent setbacks, including the deaths of Marulanda and Reyes, Chávez may no longer view backing the FARC as a prudent political strategy. Indeed, short of providing massive arms assistance, Venezuela might not be able to aid the guerrillas effectively against a Colombian government that feels that its tough strategy is weakening the FARC.

It must also be noted that Chávez's effort to distance himself from the FARC came days after the Colombians arrested four men, including two Venezuelans, one of whom identified himself as a sergeant in Venezuela's national guard, transporting 40,000 rounds of AK-47 ammunition to the FARC. Such incidents have made Chávez's continued support of the FARC politically perilous.

Since Interpol authenticated the FARC files in May, Chávez has taken a serious pounding in the international press. He may also be a recipient of behind-the-scenes pressure from more responsible nations like Brazil and Chile, whose leaders know that it will be hard for Latin America to progress and prosper as long as the region's most visible president extols the armed path to power and bankrolls an army of narco-terrorists. READ MORE