According to information found in the seized computer of a FARC [Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia] Commander, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been giving money to the left-wing Colombian guerrilla group, which funds itself principally through kidnappings -- including of US citizens.
An interview with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos published by the German magazine Der Spiegel confirms that Gaddafi offered money to the FARC, but there is no evidence whether the group received the money. A letter found inside the seized computer mentions that the FARC thanked the Libyan leader for his treatment of FARC leaders in Libya, while simultaneously requesting a five-year loan of $100 million to buy surface-to-air missiles. The news is worrisome; the FARC is considered to be supported by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. In the past, the FARC announced that it would go to the aid of Venezuela if the United States threatened Chavez.
Further, the Washington Times reports that Libyan rebels received reports that the FARC's female snipers from Colombia have joined other mercenaries in fighting to keep Gaddafi in power. The Colombian police are now investigating the allegations.
The documents in the FARC's seized computer contained also other information on Gaddafi's connections in Latin America. It was disclosed that Nicaraguan President, Daniel Ortega, one of the original Sandinista leaders, is in charge of "Libyan operations" in Latin America. When Ortega was elected for the second time as President of Nicaragua in 2007, the first thing he did was to appoint Libyan national Mohammed Lashtar, as his Private Secretary with ministerial rank. Later, he was moved to work in the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry.
According to news item, Lashtar serves as the intermediary between Ortega and Gaddafi. Lashtar, who prefers to keep a low profile, allegedly helps Ortega in coordinating and administrating Libyan support in the region, such as its financial support to the terrorist group FARC, and activities in Venezuela. Ortega is actually not only a good friend of Gaddafi, but also entertains good relations with the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The Argentinean journalist, Carlos Machado, mentions Lashtar also in connection to Latin American countries' help to the Iranian nuclear project.
The friendship between Ortega and Gaddafi, however, is long-standing. Gaddafi was a supporter of the Sandinistas fighters in Nicaragua even before the triumph of the "anti-imperialist" Sandinista Revolution in 1979, which marked one of the proxy wars in the Cold War
The Libyan regime gave the Sandinistas military training, weapons, and assisted them in "interrogation techniques." Hence, it does not come as a surprise that recently Libya tried (with no success) to appoint as Libyan Ambassador to the UN the former Nicaraguan foreign minister Miguel D'Escoto Brockman. D'Escoto, who was born in Los Angeles California, and renounced his U.S. citizenship, was instead appointed Nicaragua's deputy ambassador.
The Obama administration has totally neglected Latin America and let radical dictatorships grow in the US's backyard. In April 2009, President Barack Obama attended a Summit of the Americas, also attended by Ortega. During the meeting, Ortega lashed out in a long speech against what he called the terroristic US aggression in Central America; and denouncing the US embargo on the Communist government of Cuba and the Bay of Pigs invasion that happened in 1961. Ortega admitted, however, that Obama could not be considered responsible for that operation.
Obama, in return, did not stand up for freedom and did not defend the US from the words of Ortega; the US had just been accused by the Nicaraguans of transforming Nicaragua into an authoritarian regime. The US President instead said: "I'm grateful that President Ortega did not blame me for things that happened when I was three months old".
As Jay Nordlinger wrote in the National Review, what he wished Obama had said was that the Bay of Pigs invasion was terribly executed, but the overthrow of the heinous Cuban dictatorship was a noble cause. "Had that operation succeeded, Cuba would have been infinitely better off, and the world would have been better off. […] If we are to be sorry for anything, it's that the operation did not succeed, not that it occurred." Nordlinger, however, admits that Obama could never say anything like that, as it would be contrary to his minds "He would be only slightly less likely to say it than would Bill Ayers, Rashid Khalidi, or Jeremiah Wright."
From the press:
- Nicaraguan President Ortega's connection with Libya
- Gaddafi backed Sandinistas
- Ortega and Gaddafi share hostility against the West
- FARC asked Gaddafi for $100 million to buy missiles
- Libyan operation in Latin America in the hands of Nicaraguan President Ortega
April 4. 2011
Nicaraguan President Ortega's connection with Libya
The fact that Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has come to the diplomatic rescue of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi should not surprise anyone. When Ortega returned as President of Nicaragua for the second time in January 2007, his first day in office he appointed Libyan national Mohammed Lashtar, as his Private Secretary with ministerial rank.
Lashtar, whose origins date back to Gaddafi's secret service and who as a result of Ortega's influence became a Nicaraguan citizen, has for almost two decades been the contact point between Ortega and Gaddafi. Prior to Ortega's return to government, Lashtar was like his shadow, frequently traveling with him, paying airline tickets, hotels and mobilization, all probably funded by the Libyan government.
Gaddafi backed Sandinistas
Ortega's relation with Gaddafi began way before the triumph of the Sandinista Revolution in 1979, when Gaddafi backed the guerilla insurrection by funding and at least one arms shipment. Moreover, in the 1980s during Ortega's first Presidency, Libya granted the Sandinista government a $100 million loan, a significant amount at the time.
When the insurrection against Gaddafi began this February, Ortega immediately supported the North African dictator. It is no surprise then, that as Gaddafi becomes increasingly isolated both internationally and by his former supporters, Ortega, in a confused diplomatic maneuver, has tried to accredit as Libya's representative to the UN the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua, Miguel D'Escoto Brockman.
Ortega and Gaddafi share hostility against the West
Friendship aside, Ortega's attitude is rooted in something much deeper. It is his hostility toward the Western World, as, reflected in his speeches and rhetoric. He is constantly attacking American imperialism and European colonialism. [...] The majority of Nicaraguan citizens, victims of his authoritarianism, do not support Ortega's position. The fact is that Ortega also has a profound hostility for democracy, and tolerates the market with disgust. Fox News Latino, Op-Ed by Edmundo Jarquín, the vice presidential candidate for Nicaragua's Alianza Partido Liberal Independiente party, an opposition alliance that will go up against Ortega in the country's elections this November.
March 21, 2011
FARC asked Gaddafi for $100 million to buy missiles
The FARC appears to have asked the Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi for a $100 million loan to buy missiles, while also corresponding with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega over the coordination of Libyan support in the region.
The Europa Press Agency published a report Monday, sourcing information from the seized computers of slain FARC commander "Raul Reyes," killed by the Colombian army in Ecuador on March 1, 2008.
A letter from the FARC addressed to "Comrade Colonel Muammar Gaddafi," dated September 4, 2000, reportedly thanked the Libyan leader for his treatment of FARC leaders in his country, while simultaneously requesting a five-year loan of $100 million to buy surface-to-air missiles.
Libyan operation in Latin America in the hands of Nicaraguan President Ortega
Although it is unknown whether either money or weapons were ever actually delivered, the news agency reports that found on the computer was another letter that was destined to be delivered "by hand" to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.
Dated February 23, 2003, the second letter was addressed to "Dear Comrade Daniel," and communicated Gaddafi's confidence in the FARC's operations, as well as marking out for Ortega a regional role supporting Libya in the administration..
"The Libyans have told us that political responsibility for Libyan operations in the region is in the hands of Ortega," the letter supposedly said. Ortega was a key member of the left-wing Sandanistas, who wrestled for control of Nicaragua in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. After serving as president during some of that period, he has remained an influential figure in Nicaraguan politics. Despite three failed presidential campaigns, he eventually regained control in 2007. Colombia Reports
