The documents reviewed by the newspaper indicate Venezuela appears to be making concrete offers to help arm the rebels, possibly with rocket-propelled grenades and ground-to-air missiles.The files suggest that Venezuela offered the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) the use of one of its ports to receive arms shipments, and that Venezuela raised the prospect of drawing up a joint security plan with the FARC and sought basic training in guerrilla-warfare techniques.”There is complete agreement in the intelligence community that these documents are what they purport to be,” a senior U.S. official said. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has been sharing its assessments with the White House, this official said.Chávez has repeatedly said the files were faked by Colombia. “We don’t recognize the validity of any of these documents,” Bernardo Álvarez, Venezuela’s ambassador to the U.S., said in a Wednesday interview. “They are false, and an attempt to discredit the Venezuelan government.”
Interpol, the international police organization, has yet to give its view on the files’ legitimacy. Colombia asked Interpol to perform an independent forensic analysis, and next week, Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble is scheduled to travel to Colombia to present the findings.
Mr. Noble declined to comment on Interpol’s conclusions. He said Interpol hasn’t yet briefed foreign governments on its findings. “Anyone who has told you that Interpol has informed him about our findings has given you false information,” he said.
