Former Security Minister
Calls Costa Rica "Little
Colombia"
Former ministro de
Seguridad, Fernando
Berrocal, yesterday
showed his anger towards
the Arias government and
specifically the
ministro de la
Presidencia, Rodrigo
Arias, while appearing
before a Legislative
commission investigating
the links of the Fuerzas
Armadas Revolucionarias
de Colombia (FARC) in
Costa Rica.
While he was ministro de
Seguridad, Berrocal
commented publicly of a
list of the names of
Costa Rican politicians
with ties to the
Colombian rebel group,
the names found in the
personal computer of the
FARC leader, “Raúl
Reyes”, who was killed
by Colombian troops in
Ecuador.
Berrocal was asked to
leave his post by Costa
Rican president Arias
after a meeting between
Berrocal and the Arias
brothers.
The former minister said
yesterday that no such
list exists and that a
statement by Colombian
authorities, at the
bequest of Costa Rica,
of such was unnecessary
since Casa Presidencial
knew well that no such
list existed.
According to Berrocal,
Rodrigo Arias was well
informed that no such
list existed and was
kept well apprised of
the intelligence on the
penetration of the FARC
in Costa Rica. The
former minister said,
that in addition to the
report, minister Arias
invited the director of
the Policia Nacional de
Colombia, Oscar Naranjo,
to a dinner, while the
police official was
visiting Costa Rica for
an exchange of
information on drug
trafficking.
Berrocal was quoted as
saying that Costa Rica
has been converted into
a "Little Colombia" due
to the high level of
penetration by the
Colombian rebels in the
country.
The former minister, in
his story to the
commission, told of how
he learned of the FARC
presence in the country
in 2006 when he took
over the post as
Security minister and
that the level of
penetration became clear
to him after a
defamation campaign was
mounted to oust him from
his post, especially
after the find of the
us$480.000 in a house in
Heredia owned by Costa
Rican couple and alleged
to belong to the FARC.
Berrocal, who left the
Seguridad post on March
30, said that Colombian
authorities had advised
Costa Rica to keep an
close eye, especially in
the regions along the
Pacific, areas where
large quantities of drug
where being shipped from
the Buenaventura port in
Colombia.
In his comments to the
commission, Berrocal
said that he felt he had
the support of president
Arias, but did not
mention that of Rodrigo,
adding that the Costa
Rican government is
"owing" for not giving
the victims - addicts
and their families - of
drug trafficking much
importance and not for
considering the problem
one of public health.
The former minister
spoke for almost two
hours, not allowing time
for commission members
to ask questions and
felt that the former
minister did not provide
them with anything new. |
