Interpol weighs in on Colombia-Venezuela dispute: Guerrilla laptops not tampered with

Colombia is being backed up by Interpol on its accusation that Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez offered to help the FARC rebel group, report Chris Kraul and Josh Meyer.

The International Crime Police Organization found no evidence of tampering on a laptop that was recovered after a raid on a rebel camp by Colombian forces in March, which sparked the biggest diplomatic crisis that the region has seen for years.

A high-ranking Colombian Defense Ministry official charged that taken together, the e-mails show a willingness by Venezuela to "give support to the FARC on all relevant fronts -- arms, finances, sanctuary and political support," says the story.

The Associated Press said that the find promises to increase pressure on Chavez to explain his relationship with the FARC rebel group. Chavez had called the documents found by Colombia fakes. According to the Miami Herald, the Venezuelan President called the head of Interpol, Ronald K. Noble, a "gringo policeman" and has rejected the report from the agency.

Chávez called the Interpol finding ''a new act of aggression'' by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe during a four-hour press conference in Caracas and added: "Once again I am required to put relations with Colombia in deep review.''

Some of the data retrieved from the computer showed e-mails from the FARC's commander, Manuel Marulanda, directly to Chávez, says the Washington Post.

You can read the statement by Interpol secretary general Ronald K. Noble here.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Comments

[Steve]

"Colombia is being backed up by Interpol on its accusation that Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez offered to help the FARC rebel group, report Chris Kraul and Josh Meyer."

No, did those two even read the report? There shouldn't be any excuse for not reading the report given that TWO of them were reporting on this story. What did the report say? I advise the "reports" to look at page 7 and 9, which explicitly states that they are not confirming the validity of the source or the accuracy of the content. Actually, I advise the two reports to stop being lazy and read the full report. INTERPOL did NOT back Colombia's accusations against Chavez.