The Farc Files: Venezuela, Ecuador and the Secret Archive of 'Raúl Reyes' (An IISS Strategic Dossie

This Strategic Dossier provides unique insights into the thinking and evolution of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). It is based on a study of the computer disks belonging to Luis Edgar Devía Silva (aka Raúl Reyes), head of FARC's International Committee (COMINTER), that were seized by Colombian armed forces in a raid in March 2008 on Devía's camp inside Ecuador. Several months afterwards, senior officials from the Colombian Ministry of Defence invited the IISS to conduct an independent analysis of the material. The dossier shows how FARC evolved from a small, autarkic and strategically irrelevant group into an insurgent movement which, fuelled by revenues from narcotics production, came close to jeopardising the survival of the Colombian state. A key part of FARC's evolution was the development of an international strategy aimed at acquiring financial support, arms and political legitimacy. The dossier looks in detail at FARC's relations with Venezuela and Ecuador. The dossier is accompanied by a CD-ROM containing all relevant e-mails unedited and in the original Spanish in a searchable, chronological format.