LA NACION [Argentina]
Sunday, 26 September 1999
 

Rebel leader says USA, local "oligarchs" planning blood bath 

SALTA, Argentina -- The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP) is convinced that there will be some sort of direct US military intervention in that country and it is trying to garner international support to prevent what it believes "will be a blood bath in Colombia." This was explained in Salta by Colombian guerrilla leader Javier Calderon, who claims to be the man in charge of the FARC's diplomatic affairs in South America.

The guerrilla leader came to this city to give a lecture as the guest of several local associations that joined together to form the so-called Commission for Solidarity with the Latin American Countries. He said he had been in Salta and Jujuy before.
 

Calderon stressed that, if Latin America is to achieve progress, "we must at some point face the monster, that predator (referring to the United States). We will do so if we have to and we are, in fact, doing so already. We need a lot of understanding and support from the Latin American community and particularly from the Argentine people." ...

Calderon's speech focused on the FARC's various activities. He explained that the FARC "has nothing to do with the drug trade" , recalling arguments to that effect by President Andres Pastrana at the 20th November meeting in Costa Rica with the US State Department. In this respect, Calderon sneered: "The US State Department, we think, cannot hold meetings with a narcoguerrilla group." He added that the United States "has enough resources to determine who is actually involved in drug trafficking" , and he linked the drug trade to "Colombian oligarchic circles, which collect and deposit the money in banks" .

Calderon attributed the accusations to a campaign by the United States, which he characterized as the 'enemy of Latin American peoples' and warned of "the blood bath the United States and the Colombian oligarchy are preparing in his country, which 31,000 Colombian and US rangers have entered' .

He also said that a military intervention could take place at any time and that calls for participation by third countries are among the preparations for an effective presence. Colombia ranks third among the countries that received the largest amounts of financial aid for military purposes from Washington.
 

Political contacts

"I am a public man, I am not meddling in internal affairs, I am simply revealing Colombia's situation and asking to have our fighting acknowledged," which would help to shorten the war, he said.

In response to a question regarding whether his presence might prompt fear of an incipient guerrilla movement, he responded: "No, not at all. I always say that Latin America has already tested the exportation of revolutionary struggles and it was unsuccessful."

Calderon defined the FARC as a political organization that took up arms because it was unable to gain access to the vote, due to the attitude of the "fascist dictatorship that murders anyone who opposes the system" .

"The only safe place"

He said that after the agreements between President Pastrana and the FARC, paramilitaries "trained and paid by the state" murdered townspeople, which led to clashes to defend their positions. 'We are not trying to sabotage the peace effort, we are struggling for peace," he said.

Regarding the FARC's resources, Calderon explained that they come from "a peace tax, just as the government collects taxes for war" , and he added: "We do not murder Colombians" , but we do execute "spies who infiltrate" the territories under our control.

At present 500 military men are being held by the subversive group, which wants to swap them, but will not agree to "a forgive and forget law, because the detained guerrillas have nothing to be forgiven for" ...