FARC guerillas armed with Swedish weapons
Published: 27 Jul 09 10:42 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/20930/20090727/
The Colombian rebel group the FARC is in possession of advanced weaponry manufactured by the Swedish firm Saab Bofors Dynamics, according to a report in the Colombian weekly newspaper Semana.
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It was in connection with Colombian army raids on the FARC guerilla bases in July and October 2008 that the Swedish-made weapons were discovered, the newspaper reports.
The Colombian government then contacted Saab Bofors who could confirm that the weapons had originally been sold to the Venezuelan army.
"It is extremely unfortunate that this has occurred, although this is out of our control. Our client is the Venezuelan army. Saab always acts in accordance with Swedish law and international regulations regarding the sale of defence materials," a representative for the Swedish firm is quoted by the newspaper as saying.
How the state of the art weapons fell into the hands of the FARC remains a mystery as the Venezualan government, despite promising the Colombian government to look into the issue, has not yet been able to shed light on the circumstances.
Semana maintains that there are strong grounds to suspect that two generals, who are part of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez's inner circle, have provided the Farc with the Swedish weapons.
The AT-4 weapons are described as one of the world's most advanced anti-tank weapons, easy to carry, easy to use and very effective.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
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A suggestion, grind made in Sweden of the weapons before you sell them.
- grind the contract with the Venezuelan army
- embed a remote-disabling routine into the weapon that is not informed to the customers ..... I mean Windows / Microsoft does this so why shouldn't weapons?
It is so very unfortunate. We are the ones responsible for our own problems. There's no else to blame for it.
Of course, you can blame Saab Bofors only if they continue selling them to clients who have a history of missusing them, but not before.
It's easy to point fingers, but i bet that if any of you was in that sales team, you would have jumped to joy for concluding a sale...Try to see it from a different perspective...
Shock horror 2: someone sold weapons
Shock horror 3: someone profited from selling arms
ZZzzzzzz
But since our richness is also due to money coming from that industry, we should just worry to keep wars as far as possible from our borders.
What difference does if a weapon is used by FARC or by any of the hundreds clans that kill thousands of people daily in center Africa?
Thing is, like any major playing country dealing arms, they cannot always be seen giving their weapons to certain parties. The only problem here, is some schmuck screwed up, and it went public.
Keep drinking your coke, play on your iphone (or any mobile), enjoy your internet, 3 meals a day, television, computers, you name it. Because maybe you all don't realize, but it would take the resources of 3-5 Earths for the entire world to live like Europe and the United States (Canada included).
So come join in for a little Call of Duty on xbox360 and smile :)
same thing happening in Nigerian Niger-Delta right now.
hahah ye right, the Venezualan government's promise.
I'm sure it's on the top of their 'to do' list.
I'm with BillyB on this one.
ZZZzzzzzzzzzz
selling to both rivals and make the conflict prolonged while prettending beeing peace keepers and creating jobs for their NGOs....(eg..its happening in countries like somalia,eastern DR.Congo,Sudan,Uganda,etc).where do all these rebels purchase their weapons?of course from the manufacturers.
But they 4get how many millions of innocent people are affected due to their selfish intrerests.....and when refugees imerge in their countries,they deny them.
Its so sad!!!
One use only, to destroy life and equipment, regardless of who is using them.
This is my theory:
A Venezuelan first division soccer team is sponsored by the Venezuelan Army but want to transfer in a Colombian first division soccer player from a team sponsored by the political wing of FARC (FARC ME).
The army is a little cash strapped at the moment so it uses the rockets to seal the deal.
Whats the problem??
cheers
The Black One
http://manual.americasarmy.com/images/b/ba/At4-400.jpg
Just makes the bullets and lets the whole world and his wife fire them.
Ah well its good business I suppose in these difficult times...
*congratulations*
It is a shame freedom of speech doesn't allow one to write the truth.