"I want to make this warning very clear, a company that pays as much as a single Colombian peso to those bandidos will be on their way out of the country," said Santos, speaking at the inauguration of an agricultural program in the central Meta department.
His comments were made in reference to recent stories that have suggested Canadian oil company Talisman paid extortion money to the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of ColombiaFARC or FARC-EP, is either a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization or a narco mob based in Colombia. It claims to represent the rural poor in a struggle against Colombia's wealthier classes, and opposes United States influence in Colombia, neo-imperialism, monopolization of natural resources by multinational corporations, paramilitary or government violence, and the usual raft of complaints. It funds itself principally through ransom kidnappings, taxation of the drug trade, extortion, shakedowns, and
donations. It has lately begun calling itself
Bolivarianand is greatly admired by Venezuela's President-for-Life Chavez, who provides it with safe areas along the border.
(FARC) in order to avoid attacks by the rebel group.
Last Monday 23 Talisman workers were kidnapped by FARC rebels in the Vichada department in eastern Colombia. All but one hostage were freed in a rescue operation by the Colombian armed forces the next day.
After their release, some victims told local media that Talisman had agreed to pay an estimated 2.6 million Colombian pesos to the FARC on previous occasions in order to avoid attacks by the guerilla group, that have fought with government troops for over 40 years.
Military commander Edgar Cely, who traveled with Santos to Meta, told news hounds that company executives had denied having made any such payments.
"We cannot allow anyone to feed these bandidos, which the only thing they will do with the money is to produce more violence and more insecurity," said Santos.