High-Tech Guerrillas are Y2K Ready

Updated 3:53 AM ET December 21, 1999

By CESAR GARCIA, Associated Press Writer

LOS POZOS, Colombia (AP) - Colombia's main leftist rebel band uses computers for everything from Internet-based public relations to maintaining lists of kidnap victims to be snatched at roadblocks.

So you can bet it hasn't neglected the Y2K computer bug.

"We've been working a long time on preventive measures," said Juan, 33, a systems manager interviewed in Colombia's guerrilla-controlled south.

Juan said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - or FARC, the country's largest rebel group - has updated its hardware and software to the latest generation, including obtaining an advance version of Microsoft's newest operating system, Windows 2000.

If true, that would easily put the FARC far ahead of Colombia's government in ridding its computers of Y2K problems, the legacy of programming that expressed years in two digits, meaning 2000 could be mistaken for 1900, causing crashes or lost data.

Alfredo Rangel, a military analyst and former national security adviser, has no reason to doubt Juan's affirmations.

The rebels "have all the latest technology and sometimes their equipment is better than that of the armed forces," he said, noting that FARC operations rely on secure-channel satellite communications.

In addition to maintaining databases to assist its insurgents in identifying ransom kidnap victims among the people it randomly halts at rural roadblocks, the FARC apparently also uses computers for accounting and to manage its considerable financial resources, Rangel said.

Most rebel funds are believed invested outside the country. FARC leaders are circumspect when asked about such matters.

Juan, who would not provide his full name for security reasons, joined the 15,000-member rebel band 12 years ago and has been a systems manager for eight. FARC has been fighting successive governments since 1964.

In an interview with The Associated Press in which he avoided disclosing sensitive details, Juan provided a glimpse of just how high-tech the rebels are:

-Most of their computers are laptops that are carried in backpacks on the highly-mobile guerrillas' treks through Colombia's back country.

-FARC commanders in the field are able to remotely send updates for the movement's Web pages, using wireless communications from the bush if necessary.

-Rebel systems specialists use state-of-the-art optical storage to back up their important files and that "delicate information" is hidden in "secure places."

The FARC's most prized data includes lists of companies whose principals it extorts and kidnaps.

The rebels, who control 40 percent of Colombia's countryside but not its cities, also recently obtained a key archive that lists the owners of Bogota real estate and property prices, a government official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Almost any information can be bought in Colombia, but much is also freely available.

Local FARC commanders pioneered the use of laptop computers for kidnappings, storing databases of potential victims. When they stop vehicles at rural roadblocks, they frequently check to see whether the occupants are listed.

They also keep lists of all soldiers and police, according to the national police director, Gen. Rosso Jose Serrano.

"The FARC has, for example, the citizen identification numbers, everything, for the army and the police," Serrano said. "If you get stopped at a roadblock and they find your citizen ID number in their computer, they say, 'This is a policeman. This is a soldier."'

And they kidnap you.

"They have a list of all our pilots with their home addresses," said Serrano. "Where do they get them? That's a good question."

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Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), December 21, 1999

Answers

LOL!!! Now "if" the US black book projects are "still" supporting this faction then they are no better prepared then OUR fed gov (cause they would then BE our fed gov). uh, IMHO....

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 21, 1999.