THE NORTH KOREAN FREIGHTER AND THE ATTEMPT ON URIBE’S LIFE

The North Korean Freighter and the Attempt on Uribe’s Life

FARC’s plan to assassinate Álvaro Uribe Vélez last July failed and according to leaked documents—which the Santos government is fully aware of—the terrorists planned to use a car bomb against him

By Ricardo Puentes Melo  (Trad. Alexander Rabinovich y Alejandro Buenaventura)

Remember the North Korean freighter that came from Cuba loaded with weapons and highly dangerous materiel, which was detained by the Panamanian government last July? Do you know the real destination of that cargo? Do you know why Colombian mainstream media and Juan Manuel Santos’s government remained silent regarding this incident?

The reasons are as simple as they are horrifying.

Let us begin by confirming what former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez claimed at the time: some of the weapons were destined for the FARC. What Uribe Vélez prudently kept to himself is that the rest of the weapons were intended for use in a set-up against the Venezuelan political opposition, orchestrated by the Venezuelan government. The opposition was accused at the time and still is, by the Venezuelan government, of planning Nicolás Maduro’s assassination; Uribe was crudely linked to this plan.

The truth is the North Korean-flagged Chong Chon Gang’s mission was delivering its cargo from Cuba to Ecuador. As previously noted, some of the weapons would go to the FARC. However, another part of the freight, specifically the aircraft, were to be “discovered” by the Colombian government, which in turn would confirm—one way or another—Maduro’s accusations that stated that Uribe and the opposition in Venezuela were purchasing aircraft in an attempt to assassinate him. The aircraft aboard the ship were to be part of the body of proof in a case against Uribe and the Venezuelan opposition which would disallow them any plausible deniability.

General Pedro Mendiondo Gómez, Cuba’s Chief of the Anti-Aircraft Defense and Revolutionary Air Force, was involved in the operation and was

appointed by Fidel and Raúl Castro to rearm the FARC in Colombia.

General Mendiondo directed the logistics along with two FARC commanders currently involved in peace talks in Havana, one of them being Iván Márquez. The Cuban general was responsible for loading the ship with weapons and for their safe delivery to Colombia.

However, General Mendiondo, against all odds and despite being pro-terrorist, leaked the plan’s details to Cuban-American intelligence, which in turn alerted the former president.

The Castro-led government eventually uncovered the general’s leak and he subsequently died in an “unfortunate traffic accident”.

Periodismo Sin Fronteras had in possession part of that information, but we decided to withhold it to not interfere any ongoing investigations by international entities. Notwithstanding the above and given General Mendiondo’s “accident”, attempted “accidents” against one of the sources which provided us this information, and further to the withdrawal of my security which the government of Santos directed, led mainly by Andrés Villamizar (director of the Unidad Nacional de Protección), all details of the plan were disclosed as authorized.

FARC’s plan to assassinate Álvaro Uribe Vélez last July failed and according to leaked documents—which the Santos government is fully aware of—the terrorists planned to use a car bomb against him.

As a result of this failed attempt the FARC’s new plan involved the weaponry seized in Panama by Ricardo Martinelli’s government. There, amongst other items were several RPG-7s, which are portable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launchers which were to be used against Uribe’s airplane, helicopter or armored vehicle. These weapons were referred to as “arrows” and were intended for FARC’s 37^th front, which operates in the Montes de María mountain chain between Sucre and Bolívar and the 59^th front, which operates in Guajira. The 37^th front was tasked with delivering the “arrows” to within range of Uribe.

Although we cannot confirm that Juan Manuel Santos actually sat down with FARC terrorists, the Castro brothers, Maduro or Correa to attempt against Uribe’s life, foreign intelligence sources have no doubt that the attempt executed against former minister Fernando Londoño and the plan to kill Álvaro Uribe Vélez was set by Santos and the Castros with the aim to “clear Colombia’s path toward peace”.

In other words, Santos’ commitment to the plan was to look the other way as Fernando Londoño, Uribe Vélez and Attorney General Ordóñez were assassinated.

These disclosures have profoundly upset Juan Manuel Santos, Alfonso Gómez Méndez (justice minister), Aurelio Iragorri Valencia (interior minister) and Andrés Villamizar Pachón (director of the Unidad Nacional de Protección). I don’t fear for my life. But I’m terrified that the complicity of bandits with the crooks in the government will ultimately cause my family harm.

They are responsible should anything untoward happen to my family or myself.

 @ricardopuentesm