Colombian military forces captured a laptop computer when they put Raul Reyes and 16 other members of Farc on ice. What they found on that laptop links Venezuelan blowhard Hugo Chavez to the Colombian rebels:

Files in the computer seized in Saturday’s raid into Ecuador that claimed the lives of Reyes and 23 of his comrades offer an intimate portrait of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s desire to undermine Colombia’s U.S.-allied government.

If authentic, the documents show that sympathies Chavez first aired publicly in January grew out of a relationship that dates back more than a decade. But Chavez is not one of the correspondents, and his sentiments mentioned in these documents are relayed solely through the rebels.

Venezuela says the documents are lies and fabrications. If they are, they are expertly done.

The article alleges Chavez gave Farc $300 million:

Naranjo alleges the “300,” called the “dossier” in a Dec. 23 message signed by Marquez, refers to a $300 million gift from Chavez to the rebels.

In a Jan. 14 missive, Briceno discusses what to do with the “dossier.”

“Who, where, when and how will we receive the dollars and store them?” he asks fellow members of the FARC’s seven-man ruling secretariat.

And Barack Obama gets mentioned, with Farc documents claiming “gringos” are claiming he will be the next POTUS:

Writing two days before his death, Reyes tells his secretariat comrades that “the gringos,” working through Ecuador’s government, are interested “in talking to us on various issues.”

“They say the new president of their country will be (Barack) Obama,” noting that Obama rejects both the Bush administration’s free trade agreement with Colombia and the current military aid program.

Reyes said the response he relayed is that the United States would have to publicly express that desire.

Who are these “gringos” they are talking about? Does that sound like someone from the State department to you? Or is it someone else?

UPDATE:

Venezuela’s Justice Minister said war “has already begun. Also important to note:

Colombia said documents found at the base showed rebels wanted to make a radioactive dirty bomb.

But the documents it shared with reporters didn’t support the allegation, indicating instead that the rebels were trying to buy uranium to resell at a profit.

Uribe said Chavez should be prosecuted for allegedly financing the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

Uribe cited documents in a laptop seized in Reyes’ jungle camp that he said showed Venezuela made a $300 million payment to the rebels.

Both Venezuela and Ecuador dismissed all the allegations as lies.

I wonder how long it has been since a U.S. carrier group visited Venezuela…it’s probably oversdue.