BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) – As Colombia’s leftist rebel movement begins making its transition to a political party, a crucial question hangs over the process: how much money is it hiding?
Chief prosecutor Nestor Martinez rocked the nation last week by saying he has compiled evidence that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia is sitting on an illegal fortune worth hundreds of millions of dollars, a political war chest that outstrips the coffers of traditional parties. He asserted that its assets, arising from the FARC’s involvement in the drug trade as well as illegal mining and extortion, include everything from herds of cattle held in the name of front men to offshore shell companies.
Martinez didn’t list the specific properties, but his statement appeared aimed at cornering the FARC as it faces an Aug. 1 deadline to declare its war spoils, which the peace deal signed last year earmarks for compensation of the rebels’ victims. Assets that aren’t itemized can be seized down the road and anyone involved in concealing them faces prosecution for money laundering outside the generous terms provided by the accord.
“That legend of Franciscan poverty is about to end,” Martinez said, referring to the image the FARC has long cultivated since its origins in the 1950s as a peasant-led self-defense movement.
The FARC was quick to strike back, accusing Martinez of being an enemy of the peace accord aimed at ending a half century of violent conflict.