Raúl Reyes

Infobox Military Person
name = Luis Edgar Devia Silva
born = birth date|1948|9|30
died = death date and age|2008|3|1|1948|9|30
placeofbirth = La Plata, Huila, Colombia
placeofdeath = near Santa Rosa de Sucumbíos, Ecuador


caption =
nickname = Raúl Reyes
serviceyears = ?-2008
rank = Member of the Central High Command
branch = Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
commands =
unit = Southern Bloc
battles = Colombian armed conflict

Luis Edgar Devia Silva (September 30, 1948 – March 1, 2008), better known by his nom de guerre Raúl Reyes, was a Secretariat member, spokesperson and advisor to the Southern Bloc of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-EP (FARC). He was killed in a military operation by the Colombian army convert|1.8|km within Ecuador, sparking the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis.

Early years

Reyes was born in the Colombian town of La Plata, Huila Department. [ [http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/actions/20040218.shtml Office of Foreign Assets Control] ] Devia Silva joined the Colombian Communist Youth (JUCO) when he was 16 years old. He later joined a trade union movement while working for a Nestlé milk plant in the department of Caquetá. Devia Silva served as councilman for his home town representing the Colombian Communist Party (PCC), and was also a member of the party's Central Committee. [http://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/america_latina/story/168981.html Un histórico líder que se tornó sanguinario] "El Nuevo Herald". 2008-03-01. Accessed 2008-03-09]

After becoming a member of FARC and joining its Secretariat, Reyes became a prominent figure and spokesperson for the FARC. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7273320.stm Farc aura of invincibility shattered.] Accessed 2008-03-02.]

Reyes was accused by the US Department of State and the Colombian government of expanding FARC's cocaine trafficking activities and setting related policies, including the production, manufacture, and distribution of hundreds of tons of cocaine to the United States and other countries. He was accused of promoting the "taxation" of the illegal drug trade in Colombia to raise funds for the FARC, as well as participating in the murder of hundreds of people who violated or interfered with the FARC's cocaine-related policies. [http://www.state.gov/p/inl/narc/rewards/63841.htm Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs] ]

Reyes was also accused of kidnapping hundreds of civilians for extortion or political purposes, including nine foreign tourists, involvement in several town massacres and some Colombian city bombings.

He had been formally sentenced in absence for the deaths of 13 policemen and 18 soldiers, 18 kidnappings and the deaths of a judge, a physician, three judicial auxiliaries, the ex-minister of Culture Consuelo Araújo, the congressman Diego Turbay and his mother, catholic monsignor Isaías Duarte, Governor of Antioquia Guillermo Gaviria, the Colombian ex-minister Gilberto Echeverri, 11 members of the Valle del Cauca Assembly and at least other four persons. Most of these persons were kidnapped before their deaths. Gaviria, Echeverri and Araújo were killed by shots in the head when Colombian military forces stormed the camps where they were held by guerrilla insurgents. He was also found responsible for bombing Club El Nogal in Bogotá where 36 people were killed. The Government of Paraguay had asked for his extradition for his participation in the kidnapping and death of Cecilia Cubas, daughter of the ex-president of Paraguay, who was kidnapped in September, 21, 2004 and whose body was found in an abandoned house in February 2005. Before his death the United States Department of State was offering a reward of up to US$5 million for information leading to his arrest. He was also included in Interpol "red list". [http://www.2001.com.ve/noticias_2001online.asp?registro=88703&visit=1613&act=1 Muere el guerrillero de las FARC con mayor proyección internacional.] Diario 2001. Consultado el 01/03/2008.] cite news|title=PALABRAS DEL EMBAJADOR CAMILO OSPINA, EMBAJADOR DE COLOMBIA ANTE LA OEA, SESION DEL CONSEJO PERMANENTE, 4 MARZO DEL 2008 |url=http://media.elnuevoherald.com/smedia/2008/03/05/07/Declaracion_Colombia.source.prod_affiliate.84.doc |work=Miami Herald |date= 2008-03-05 |accessdate= 2008-03-06 ] cite news|title=En la lista de Interpol |url=http://www.elcolombiano.com.co/BancoConocimiento/E/en_la_lista_de_interpol/en_la_lista_de_interpol.asp?CodSeccion=9 |work=El Colombiano |date=s/f |accessdate= 2008-03-06 ]

Colombian authorities believed that Raúl Reyes moved through the southern Colombian frontier, especially in Putumayo, along the border with Ecuador. In late 2006, his possible presence in Ecuadorian territory was denounced by Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, while Ecuador's authorities rejected the claim, admitting only temporary FARC "infiltrations". [ [http://www.eluniverso.com/2006/10/31/0001/8/498DD0C96FB04CD8AFE406FD7768B0D1.aspx Ejército colombiano reitera que número dos de las FARC se refugia en Ecuador] ] Colombian Army General German Galvis repeated this claim in October 2006.

Negotiations with Wall Street

In June of 1999, during peace negotiations with the government of Andrés Pastrana, Reyes met in the Colombian savannah with Richard Grasso, then chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss investment opportunities for the FARC. [cite news|title=Grasso meets Colombian rebel commander NYSE chief spells out benefits of peace|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3DBA36D634568&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |work=The Dallas Morning News |date= 1999-06-28 |accessdate= 2008-03-29 ] The two men were photographed in an embrace which became known as the "Grasso abrazo." [http://img.scoop.co.nz/stories/images/0202/feb12fab54a8589b4b0e.jpeg] [http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0202/S00069.htm]

Death

Reyes was killed during a Colombian military operation in Granada, Putumayo, on March 1, 2008 against an encampment situated near Santa Rosa de Sucumbíos, on the Ecuadorian side of the border along the Putumayo River. The attack started at 00:25. [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23421855/print/1/displaymode/1098/ Colombian military says senior rebel commander killed in combat] ] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7273320.stm Farc aura of invincibility shattered.] Accessed 2008-03-02.]

The Colombian Government acknowledged the killing of Reyes and 16 more guerrillas in a guerrilla camp convert|1.8|km inside Ecuador's border. The dead body was retrieved and transported to Colombian territory after the operation took place. Colombian soldier Carlos Edilson Hernández León was killed in action during the attack. [ [http://www.ejercito.mil.co/index.php?idcategoria=199203 Heroico soldado ofrenda la vida por la paz de Colombia] ] According to a DPA report, Noticias Uno claimed that Hernández León died accidentally, due to a falling tree. [ [http://www.telam.com.ar/vernota.php?tipo=N&dis=26&sec=5&idPub=97483&id=216742 El colombiano muerto en el ataque a las FARC no fue abatido por la organización] - telam. Accessed 2008-03-17.]

According to the Ecuadorian government the attack happened convert|3|km from the border inside Ecuador’s territory and it was a planned air strike followed by the incursion of Colombian troops transported by helicopters. The attack left a total of 20 guerrilla members found dead in Ecuadorian territory, many of them wearing underwear or sleeping clothes. According to Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa, the war planes entered convert|10|km in Ecuador's territory and struck while flying north, followed by troops who came by helicopters and completed the attack. [cite news|title=Correa: 'No permitiremos que este hecho quede en la impunidad'|url=http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2008/03/03/internacional/1204515279.html |work=El Mundo |date= 2008-03-03 |accessdate= 2008-03-03 ]

The Ecuadorean president announced that a diplomatic note would be sent in protest, [cite web|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/02/america/bogota.php|title=Ecuador's President protests Colombian incursion|publisher=The Hindu] claiming that the action was a violation of Ecuador's airspace.cite web|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/02/america/bogota.php|title=Colombia forces kill key member of rebel group FARC|publisher=International Herald Tribune] Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez called the attack "a cowardly murder", and reacted by moving troops near the border with Colombia and recalling all personnel from the Venezuelan embassy in Colombia, [ [http://www.conservativepulse.com/home/2008/03/02/chavez-laments-killing-of-farc-commander/ Chavez laments killing of FARC commander] ] saying that doing something similar inside Venezuela would be a "cause for war". He also rendered a minute of silence as a tribute in his weekly televised show.

Aftermath

Colombian government officials have seized documents [ [http://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/2008-05-04/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-4139793.html Article en "El Tiempo" newspaper (Bogotá, May 4 2008 - in Spanish) ] ] that, according to a spokesman for Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, show Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa "has a relationship and commitments with FARC", and, according to the Colombian National Police Director Oscar Naranjo, Reyes had met Ecuador's minister of internal security to discuss an "interest in making official relations with the FARC". [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7274222.stm Colombia neighbors deploy troops] ]

According to Colombian authorities, the three laptop computers seized were found to hold extensive information about the FARC, their operations and connections. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B04E1DF1638F937A25750C0A96E9C8B63&scp=7&sq=Raul+Reyes+&st=nyt The New York Times - World - "U.S. Studies Rebels' Data for Chávez Link" ] ] The Colombian government handed over the three PCs and their ancillary devices to a team of Interpol experts, for a period of two weeks. Interpol's analysis had a limited scope, toward the sole objective of certifying whether the information was or was not altered in any way by the Colombian government, and not to examine the contents of the documents themselves. [ [http://english.eluniversal.com/2008/05/05/en_pol_art_interpol-confirms-au_05A1556571.shtml "Interpol confirms authenticity of Raúl Reyes's computer files" = El Universal Online] ] The Interpol report [ [http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=latinamericanhistory&cdn=education&tm=64&f=00&su=p504.1.336.ip_&tt=2&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.interpol.int/Public/ICPO/PressReleases/PR2008/pdfPR200817/ipPublicReportNoCoverEN.pdf (PDF file) INTERPOL’S FORENSIC REPORT ON FARC COMPUTERS AND HARDWARE SEIZED BY COLOMBIA - ©ICPO-INTERPOL 2008 ] ] concluded that the information was unharmed and unmodified. According to Ronald Noble, Interpol's General Secretary, the three computers, plus two external hard drives and three external memories, all belonged to the FARC.

Copies of the Interpol report were delived to Colombia's General Prosecutor Mario Iguarán; to Colombia's National Police Director Oscar Naranjo; to the Director of the Security Administrative Department (DAS, the Colombian Intelligence service) María del Pilar Hurtado; and to the Chancellor Fernando Araújo. [ [http://buscador.eluniversal.com/2008/05/16/int_art_cuatro-mil-horas-ava_862959.shtml "El Universal" newspaper, Venezuela, Friday, May 16th (in Spanish) ] ]

References