Weekly Report - 27 May 2010 (WR-10-21)

BRAZIL | Farc presence. The national daily O Estado de São Paulo published a leaked secret report of the Brazilian federal police last week which claims that the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) has established “permanent bases" in Brazil's border areas. The police report, dated 28 April, argued that the Farc had been driven across the border in the wake of sustained pressure from the Colombian military. General Carlos Gomes Mattos, Brazil's military commander for Amazônia, told journalists that Farc guerrillas cross into Brazilian territory for the purpose of drug-trafficking and receiving arms supplies. The Colombian defence minister, Gabriel Silva Luján, days later, responded to the report by claiming that the government had intelligence showing the Farc used Brazilian territory as it did “many other countries" for drug-trafficking. He said that the Amazon and Manaus were perfect conduits for the Farc. Colombia's interior and justice minister, Fabio Valencia Cossio, called on Brazil not to allow its territory to become a Farc sanctuary. Marco Aurélio Garcia, Brazil's adviser on international relations, simply said that members of the Farc would be arrested if they were found.

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