Paco Velasco accused of being the nexus between the FARC and Correa; he denies it

Ecuadornews:

The president of the Republic, Lenin Moreno, reported that he ordered an investigation to verify if the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) gave funds to the electoral campaigns of ex-President Rafael Correa.

The CNN journalist, Fernando Del Rincon, spoke on Wednesday, April 18, with the Ecuadorian president. In that interview he showed him the video of a dialogue that the US news network maintained with a supposed ex-guerrilla of the FARC. That individual, who is now a protected witness, affirmed that the guerrilla group collaborated with at least $ 500,000 on one of Rafael Correa’s presidential campaigns.

But he also unveiled the alleged link between the FARC and the former president. According to this supposed ex-guerrilla, it was Paco Velasco, ex assemblyman and former Minister of Culture, the person who facilitated the delivery of these resources.

CNN said it could confirm that the protected witness “is who he claims to be” and also corroborated that he is included in the list that the Colombian government handles over demobilized members of the FARC.

Moreno, however, detected two inaccuracies in the video that CNN showed him. The first is that the alleged ex-guerrilla indicates that Paco Velasco was the right hand of Rafael Correa, something that Moreno denied.

The Ecuadorian President also noted that the protected witness gives a physical description of Paco Velasco that does not conform to reality.

Despite these two points, Moreno ordered that an investigation should be initiated to verify what is mentioned in that video. He assured that he will deliver this audiovisual piece to the justice authorities in Ecuador. “If so (the alleged contribution of the FARC), is a lack of ethics, morals and a disrespect for what should be the policy,” said Moreno.

CNN communicated with Paco Velasco, who denied categorically that he had received money from the FARC for his campaign as an assembly member, nor for the presidential campaign of Rafael Correa.

For his part, former President Correa responded through social networks to the announcement of the investigation against his campaign.

Background

In July 2009, the then Colombian Attorney General, Mario Iguarán, said there was evidence in the computers of the dejected guerrilla leader “Raúl Reyes” that allowed “inferring” alleged links between two former Ecuadorian officials with the FARC.

The Colombian Army bombed on March 1, 2008 a FARC camp installed in Ecuadorian territory, in which 26 people died, including number two of the FARC, alias “Raul Reyes”, and Franklin Alisalla, a citizen of that country.

After the operation, Colombian soldiers recovered two computers and several USB flash drives for personal use of “Reyes”, in which emails are recorded between the guerrilla leader and personalities from various countries.

According to what Iguarán said then, the computer evidence showed the alleged links between Gustavo Larrea and José Ignacio Chauvín, two Ecuadorian officials of the time, with the FARC guerrillas. (I)

Source: https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/politica/3/correa-farc-pacovelasco-dinero-campana