Andean Group - August 2009 (ISSN 1741-4466)

The commander-in-chief of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) Guillermo León Sáenz ('Alfonso Cano'), has given his first interview since taking over as leader of the guerrilla group last March. It was published on 13 August by the Colombian news magazine, Cambio. Cano, a university-educated ideologue from the Farc's political wing, presumably hopes to force discussion of a negotiated end to the conflict onto the agenda ahead of next year's national elections.

Cano made two main points: he denied that the Farc had funded Ecuador's President Rafael Correa's election campaign or received arms from Venezuela; and he said that the group was willing to enter peace negotiations with the government if gets “guarantees" for safe conditions.

In the interview, carried out over the internet, Cano explicitly denies funding Correa: “We have not given either weapons of money to governments or organisations in other countries...Why would we contribute to the electoral campaign of a person, like the current president Rafael Correa, who we do not even know?". This directly contradicts a video, leaked by the Colombia authorities in mid July, which appears to show Farc second-in-command, Jorge Briceño Suarez, referring to “aid in dollars" given to Correa's campaign.

Cano also denied government allegations that the Farc had purchased Swedish-made rocket launchers from Venezuela (an accusation that recently led Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez to “freeze" diplomatic relations with Bogotá). According to Cano, the launchers were seized by the group “a long time ago during a military confrontation on the border". Cano accused President Alvaro Uribe's government of using the arms issue to “justify the handover of Colombia's sovereignty to Washington", in reference to the proposed US-Colombia military base plan. He went on to warn that the “new attitude of the US to Latin America, reflected in the [situation in] Honduras and the [military base] agreements announced by Uribe" would “generate very radical reactions on the continent".

• Peace talks?

Cano reiterated the group's willingness to partake in a 'humanitarian exchange', under which it would swap its 'exchangeable' hostages - which Cano said now number 23 - for some 500 imprisoned Farc members. When asked whether the group would talk to Uribe's government, he said that “independent of who occupies the presidency, we will continue to seek political solutions to the conflict", on the condition of “official guarantees" (although Cano did not clarify exactly what these would be). Uribe's response to the interview was uncompromising: Cano, he said, was not a legitimate political opponent and would end up in prison. Uribe said back in April that he would consider talks with the Farc if the group were to undertake a three- to four-month ceasefire, which, predictably, it has not done.