Janus
22nd March 2006, 20:59
Fifty leaders of Colombia's largest rebel group, Farc, have been charged in the US with exporting $25bn (£14bn) of cocaine around the world.
The indictment in Washington includes Farc founder Pedro Antonio Marin - who is not one of three members of the group being held in custody in the US.
The US regards the Farc as a terrorist group, and says it uses cocaine money to buy weapons for its insurgency.
The Farc has been fighting Colombia's government for more than four decades.
Rewards
The BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Colombia says the indictment is part of a campaign by the US and Colombian governments to paint Farc (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) as nothing more than a drugs trafficking cartel and terrorist organisation.
But the Farc, our correspondent says, present themselves as an insurgent movement fighting against what they call the puppet and fascist regime of President Alvaro Uribe.
The indictment alleges the Farc leaders ordered the kidnapping and killing of US citizens and the killing of Colombian farmers who resisted the group.
It says the Farc supplies more than half the world's cocaine.
Drug Enforcement Agency chief Karen Tandy said: "The Farc's fingerprint is on most of the cocaine sold in America's neighbourhoods."
The US state department has put up $75m in rewards for information leading to the capture of 24 of the named Farc leaders.
Hundreds of Colombians have previously been extradited to the US to face charges.
Our correspondent says the US announcement will only harden rebel animosity towards the US and towards Mr Uribe, whom the rebels accuse of taking orders from the White House.
Did the US ever do this against the AUC paramiltaries? How involved in the drug trade is FARC exactly? The US and the Colombian accuse FARC of having been corrupted by the drug trade in order to paint them in an extremely negative light. What has FARC stated in response to these accusations?
The indictment in Washington includes Farc founder Pedro Antonio Marin - who is not one of three members of the group being held in custody in the US.
The US regards the Farc as a terrorist group, and says it uses cocaine money to buy weapons for its insurgency.
The Farc has been fighting Colombia's government for more than four decades.
Rewards
The BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Colombia says the indictment is part of a campaign by the US and Colombian governments to paint Farc (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) as nothing more than a drugs trafficking cartel and terrorist organisation.
But the Farc, our correspondent says, present themselves as an insurgent movement fighting against what they call the puppet and fascist regime of President Alvaro Uribe.
The indictment alleges the Farc leaders ordered the kidnapping and killing of US citizens and the killing of Colombian farmers who resisted the group.
It says the Farc supplies more than half the world's cocaine.
Drug Enforcement Agency chief Karen Tandy said: "The Farc's fingerprint is on most of the cocaine sold in America's neighbourhoods."
The US state department has put up $75m in rewards for information leading to the capture of 24 of the named Farc leaders.
Hundreds of Colombians have previously been extradited to the US to face charges.
Our correspondent says the US announcement will only harden rebel animosity towards the US and towards Mr Uribe, whom the rebels accuse of taking orders from the White House.
Did the US ever do this against the AUC paramiltaries? How involved in the drug trade is FARC exactly? The US and the Colombian accuse FARC of having been corrupted by the drug trade in order to paint them in an extremely negative light. What has FARC stated in response to these accusations?