Tall & Rich

Maria Calle, journalist, socialist (Miami Herald Photo)

The Miami Herald writes that the FARC laptop Colombian forces liberated from Raúl Reyes, the FARC commander that has been freed from his earthly bonds, reveals deep connections between FARC and an Ecuadoran legislator;

Some of the documents, obtained by The Miami Herald, indicate that a leading member of Ecuador’s constitutional assembly, charged with reshaping that country’spolitical landscape, may be a longtime supporter of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

María Augusta Calle — also the head of Venezuela’s Telesur tv network in Ecuador and a supporter of President Hugo Chávez — let the rebels use her bank account for at least one transaction and helped promote their ideas through another news agency she directs, the Colombian offical said.

In two e-mails dated June and July 2006, a woman who signs as ”Alicia” corresponds with someone she calls ”friend” in one of her e-mails and ”Darío” in the other. She talks about personal matters, current affairs and media strategies.

According to the Colombian official — who requested anomymity as a condition to discuss the documents — ”Alicia” is a code name for Calle and the letters were intended for Reyes, the FARC’s spokesman and primary peace negotiator who was killed March 1 in a Colombian military raid of a rebel hideout in Ecuador.

In one of the newly disclosed e-mails, ”Alicia” talks about her ties to the Venezuelan embassy in Quito. She says she is hopeful she will soon get a job with the Venezuelans and offers to broker communications between the rebels and the embassy.

Of course this isn’t the only tie that the laptop has proven between Ecuador and the terrorist organization (another Miami Herald link);

Previously disclosed documents reportedly seized from Reyes’ computer have linked the FARC to cabinet members of Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa and suggested that the leftist rebels, who have been fighting the Colombian state for 40 years, contributed $100,000 to his presidential campaign.

The documents allege that Interior Minister Gustavo Larrea met with Reyes as recently as January and that he told the rebel leader that Correa’s government was willing to post friendlier Ecuadorean security forces along the border with Colombia, where FARC rebels are known to seek refuge while eluding the Colombian military.

Correa has denied having any links with the FARC, while Larrea said that since December he had been actively negotiating the release of FARC hostages at Correa’s request.

Although Calle is not considered part of Correa’s inner circle, she is a member of his Alianza País party and is a well-known figure in Ecuador’s political arena. The Telesur network she oversees is viewed as a propaganda outlet for socialist ideals.

Calle has been known to have links to FARC;

In the last month, the Ecuadorean press has mentioned Calle, elected to the Constitutional Assembly in 2007, as an alleged FARC supporter. At the end of March, Newsmagazine Vistazo published photos of Calle with FARC leader Rodrigo Granda; Reyes’ daughter, Lidia Devia; and Nubia Calderón, alias ”Esperanza,” the FARC’s representative in Ecuador.

Revista Vistazo, an Ecuadoran magazine released this photo of Maria Augusta Calle meeting with Lidia Nieva, the daughter of Raul Reyes, who also lives in Ecuador;

The laptop just doesn’t seem to stop giving up information damaging to the Latin American Left. At this point, Colombians must feel surrounded by dangerous enemies, and their only allies are in the Bush Administration.