Was the FARC Involved in the Kidnapping of Cecilia Cubas?

Cecilia Cubas, the daughter of former Paraguayan President Raúl Cubas was kidnapped on September 21, 2004 in Asuncion and her body was found there earlier this month. Now there appears to be a connection with Rodrigo Granda, the FARC's "Foreign Minister" who was spirited away from Venezuela in December and is under arrest in Colombia:

The code for the abducted daughter of a former Paraguayan president was "fruit." The "farmers" were her abductors. And the "big farm" was Colombia, home to the leftist guerrillas who advised the kidnappers.

The coded e-mails are part of strong evidence that a top Colombian FARC rebel who lived in Venezuela advised the leftists in Paraguay who kidnapped the daughter of former President Raul Cubas, officials in Paraguay, Colombia and the U.S. told The Miami Herald.

The link has prompted strong concerns because it is the first known case of the FARC exporting to other parts of Latin America its vast expertise in kidnapping for ransom--a crime that the rebel group has turned into a virtual industry in Colombia to fill its war coffers.

This is indeed disturbing. It certainly appears that if this is correct that Granda's involvement in the FARC was not merely political, but operational. I know that the FARC has been suspected  of trading drugs for weapons with Fernandinho Beira-Mar, the onetime leader of one of the most brutal drug gangs in Rio de Janeiro's favelas, but I wonder what other countries they have been meddling in in South America.

Meanwhile heads are rolling in Paraguay:

Paraguayan president Nicanor Duarte Frutos sacked Interior Minister, Nelson Mora, and at least 55 Police officers, the greatest security forces purge ever, in the framework of the investigation on the abduction and killing of a former president’s daughter.

“Mora resigned early afternoon and I’ve named a new Interior Minister, Rogelio Benitez”, said President Duarte Flores during a press conference.
Mr. Benitez is a close political associate of President Duarte Flores and mayor of the city of Encarnación where apparently he has been quite successful in combating organized crime.

The sacked officers held the top jobs in the different Police Departments including the elite Anti kidnap Unit; Intelligence and Special Crimes. However the Commander of the Police Forces, Carlos Zelaya was confirmed in his post.

“Commander Zelaya continues as head of National Police but the whole of the 1975 promotion has been relieved of responsibilities”, reported the president.

It should be noted that Benitez is now the fourth Interior Minister in the less than two years that Duarte has been president. Indeed, there are many problems with corruption and malfeasance in Paraguay's government over the years:

It was the last of the continent's military regimes to begin the transition to democracy. So perhaps it's no surprise that the presence of former President Alfredo Stroessner continues to hover over this country 15 years after his own tanks turned against him and forced him into exile after nearly 35 years in power. He has been living quietly in Brazil since then.

Unlike in Chile, where the opposition has governed since Gen. Augusto Pinochet stepped down in 1990, Stroessner's Colorado Party has continued to govern Paraguay since the onset of democracy.

The tradition of top officials being on the take -- which was institutionalized during Stroessner's reign -- has continued.

Andrés Rodríguez, the general who deposed Stroessner in 1989 and was elected as president later that year, was alleged to have made so much money from smuggling drugs that the United States canceled his visa in 1994 after he left office.

Rodríguez's successors are all believed to have fattened their bank accounts while in office. One president was even discovered to be driving an armor-plated BMW that had been stolen from a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary in Sao Paulo, Brazil

As that article indicates, kidnapping is on the rise in Paraguay. The nation has an unusual history, having had one leader in the 19th century who had all dogs killed and insisted that everyone tip their hat to him 0n the street (leading the Guarani, who did not wear hats to wear a brim just for this purpose). The nation lost a war and most of its male population in that war with Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina and fought a war with Bolivia over the Chaco desert in the 1930's. If you want to find out more about Paraguay, I urge you to read John Gimlette's terrific book At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig : Travels Through Paraguay .

While I have no respect for Raúl Cubas presidency in Paraguay, I feel nothing but sympathy for him and for his daughter. It will be interesting to see where this story goes.

Comments

[Lisa]

So was the FARC involved in the kidnapping of Cecilia? Do you know what the outcome was?
I was in Paraguay when this happened but I'm still not clear on what the outcome of this case was eventually.