FARC Money Laundering in Cuba

FARC Money Laundering in Cuba / Juan Juan Almeida
Posted on June 16, 2013

On May 26, 2013 in Havana's convention center it was announced that the
parties involved in peace talks between the Colombian government and the
FARC guerrilla group had reached an agreement on agrarian issues, the
first of five to be negotiated.
Land and its use has been a not insignificant factor and one of the
fundamental causes of a conflict that has claimed many lives. According
to the document the accord should in theory bring about the much
hoped-for beginning of a new series of changes in the rural and agrarian
situation in Colombia.

The announcement of the agreement was applauded and witnessed by
representatives from Cuba and Norway, which serve as the guarantor
countries, as well as Venezuela and Chile, which act as observers. What
is unusual in all of this is that none of the parties involved in the
peace process has confirmed that any of the basic issues has been
definitively resolved. "Nothing has been agreed to until everything has
been agreed to" is another way of saying that "nothing is agreed to."

With this discreet semantic manipulation, thus ended the ninth in a
series of conversations which will resume tomorrow, June 11, to discuss
other critical issues such as the FARC's participation in Colombia's
political life. It is a clever way to rechristen this band of eccentric
misfits and iconoclasts, who want to be viewed as having become real
partners in peace and admired luminaries trying to avoid going to prison
(which is where they belong) by signing an accord which will allow them
to enter Congress.

Ultimately, there is always something that must be sacrificed. I
understand that, when one negotiates and struggles to secure mutual
benefits and results conducive to national harmony, it is often
advantageous to allow certain illegitimate values to triumph over some
ethical, moral and even democratic principles.

The Cuban delegation understood this well. Inspired by the old fable
about kissing a frog, it decided to bet on the miraculous possibility
that these obscene guajacones (guerrilla outlaws) might become beautiful
princesses, honorable officials, effective parliamentarians or grand
heads of state.

The government in Havana was tripping over itself to not only to sell
itself as a defender of regional peace, but also to try to profit from
some democratic voices calling for a swift solution to the prolonged
conflict. Lastly and most importantly, however, it wanted to make a lot
of money.

Yes, you read that right: a lot of money. A significant part of the two
million dollars that the FARC raised carrying out "nomological and
nomothetical" operations such as kidnapping and drug trafficking is now
safely hidden away and is reporting good returns. It was washed, rinsed
and well ironed through the purchase of modern equipment and
sophisticated instrumentation for humanitarian use in Cuban hospitals
such as CIMEQ* and the Cira García Clinic.* It has also been invested as
part of the Cuban contribution to joint ventures that the island
maintains with industrial consortia and large hotel chains headquartered
inside and outside Cuba.

Unlike Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French aviator and author of the book
The Little Prince, what is essential to the revolutionary government is
not invisible to the eye; it is cash.

Translator's note: CIMEQ is a hospital that treats high-ranking
government officials and military officers, their families and foreign
dignitaries. Patients at the Cira García Clinic, which caters to foreign
health tourists, are overwhelmingly from overseas. Its most sought-after
service is plastic surgery.

13 June 2013

Source: "FARC Money Laundering in Cuba / Juan Juan Almeida | Translating
Cuba" -
http://translatingcuba.com/farc-money-laundering-in-cuba-juan-juan-almeida/