BOGOTÁ, Colombia -- Email messages linking the Colombian Marxist guerilla insurgency (known by its Spanish acronym, FARC) to politicians, union activists and left-wing parties overseas have revealed a network of supporters spanning several continents, and have kept tensions high between Colombia and some of its neighbors.
"The FARC have been less isolated than originally believed, and have wide-ranging political contacts throughout Latin America and elsewhere," Michael Shifter, an analyst with Washington, D.C.-based Inter-American Dialogue, wrote by email. While Shifter called the relationships "isolated," he said "the support network did give the FARC a sense that they were seen as legitimate by some in the international community, which in turn contributed to their self-understanding as political actors." ...
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