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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