The trial of Miguel Angel Beltran, the sociology professor linked to the FARC and charged with rebellion and criminal conspiracy, will begin on 2 October.
According to the prosecution, professor at the National University of Colombia, Miguel Angel Beltran, also known as ‘Jaime Cienfuegos’,engaged in political work in public universities for the insurgent group, in order to strengthen grassroots and urban militias, that would eventually integrate into the FARC.
His capture is a heavy blow for the FARC’s international structure and influence in Latin America, says the director of Colombia’s National Police, Oscar Naranjo.
Key evidence is the existence of a USB drive that supposedly contains much of the communication that Beltran would have sustained with numerous guerrilla leaders, including the missing member of the secretariat of the FARC, Edgar Devia, alias ‘Raul Reyes’, killed in a military operation in Ecuador in March. This mission was the cause of the break in diplomatic relations between Colombia and Ecuador.
The USB allegedly contains an email sent by ‘Jaime Cienfuegos’ to a supporter of the FARC in Venezuela, informing them of ‘Raul Reyes’ death.
The evidentiary phase of the trial will begin on Friday 2 October in a courtroom of the specialized courts of Bogota yet to be defined.
