Tensions escalated yesterday over speculations on the alleged connection between Costa Rican politicians and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

President Oscar Arias urged the public security minister, Fernando Berrocal, to clarify his remarks that alluded to a tip-of-the-iceberg scenario after a March 14 police raid on a home in Barva de Heredia, north of San José.

The raid uncovered a safe box holding $480,000 belonging to FARC. The tip-off was allegedly an e-mail sent between high rebel commanders found on a laptop after Colombia attacked a base just beyond its border with Ecuador, which killed the FARC's No. 2 in command, Raúl Reyes, and at least 20 of his soldiers.

“Many things are going to come out” of those laptops, Berrocal said. “The relations don't only go with the mafia organized to distribute drugs, but with some political sectors of this country that have lost a sense of reality.”

Yesterday, speaking in the central Pacific town of Puntarenas, Arias called on Berrocal to elaborate.

“He (Berrocal) had better give an explanation,” the president said according to the daily La Nación. “If he has (names), he should give them. But if not, well…”

The push from Arias, which followed similar statements by the chief prosecutor, Francisco Dall'Anese, obviously struck a nerve.

Yesterday afternoon a letter emerged from Berrocal addressed to the president's brother and presidency minister, Rodrigo Arias, in which Berrocal seemed to retract his statement.

After scrutinizing his comments, the letter said, “from my words it cannot be deduced, since I didn't say it, that there is an official list of politicians linked to drug-trafficking and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.”

He went on to clarify his statement, saying, “What I said in my speech is that FARC and drug-trafficking are one and the same. I also said that whoever does not understand this truth understands nothing about the grave and dangerous process of narcotics infiltration and its ramifications in Costa Rica.”