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Correa accuses Colombia of smearing Ecuador

Rafael-Correa

Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa has again accused Colombia’s intelligence service of trying to undermine his government by linking him to FARC rebels.

Correa made the remarks in response to allegations mounted against him by Colombia that the communist guerrilla group had contributed funds to his 2006 presidential campaign.

“The Colombian intelligence services are very good. They know that President Correa and his government are not linked to the FARC,” he was quoted by the Colombian paper El Tiempo as saying.

The Ecuadorian president also rejected allegations that his government has provided logistical support to the group.

“It [the allegation] is a geopolitical matter, an attempt to undermine a government of another political leaning,” he added.

Last month, the Colombian attorney general’s office said that police were investigating statements made in a video by Jorge Briceno Suarez — known as the Chief Military Commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) — in which he claims the group had contributed money to the Ecuadorian president’s campaign.

Correa was quick to reject the allegations as a pretext for Colombia to justify a cross-border attack inside Ecuador last year — an incident that resulted in the breaking-up of ties between the two states.

“They can investigate whether the candidate or campaign ever got as much as 20 cents from the FARC or any other foreign source,” the Ecuadorian president said in July.

Later in the month, the FARC rebels denied that they contributed money to Correa’s 2006 campaign, adding that they have never funded any election campaign in a neighboring nation.

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