(WASHINGTON) – {U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, commented today on the death of Raul Reyes, a senior commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a Marxist group condemned by the U.S. Department of State and the European Union for its violent resistance to the democratically-elected government of Colombia. Ros-Lehtinen also renewed her call for the U.S. Government to investigate whether Venezuela meets the legal threshold for designation as a state-sponsor of terrorism or a sanctuary nation under U.S. law. Statement of Ros-Lehtinen:

In his long and deadly career as a drug dealer and kidnapper, Raul Reyes has been responsible for the unspeakable suffering of tens of thousands of people, including long-held hostages from Colombia, the United States and Venezuela. The courageous men and women of the Colombian National Police, its intelligence unit and the country’s security services have shattered the myth that FARC’s leadership is invincible.

Among the information reportedly retrieved from computers seized during the raid are references to FARC purchases of uranium, lucrative financial ties between FARC and Venezuelan leaders, high-level FARC contacts with Ecuador government officials and creation of FARC sanctuaries in Venezuela and Ecuador.

Recent State Department reports cite deepening ties between the Chavez regime and Iran and Cuba, and an unwillingness by Chavez to prevent Venezuelan territory from being used as a safe haven by FARC. These reports are alarming and require the careful attention of our government and those of our neighbors.

Rather than rattle sabers, Colombia’s neighbors need to play a more constructive role in bringing about a durable peace and removing FARC’s foreign sanctuaries that have been exposed by this operation.
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