Costa Rica's minister of the presidency, Rodrigo Arias, said departed Public Security Minister Fernando Berrocal made “statements without foundation” about local political ties to Colombian guerrillas, requiring his removal.

Berrocal left his post Sunday on the eve of his scheduled appearance before the Legislative Assembly to explain comments that a computer seized from Colombian guerrillas in a March 1 attack on their positions inside Ecuador contained information linking the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to “political sectors” here.

“Neither a list or names of Costa Rican politicians linked to drug trafficking exists,” said Arias at a press conference yesterday.

Vice President Laura Chinchilla was named interim-public security minister.

Arias – brother of President Oscar Arias – stopped short of saying Berrocal was asked to resign, but did say he made statements at odds with the government.

“There were some statements by don Fernando that the government did not share," said Arias. “Statements were made that were not completely accurate.”

Arias said a commission composed of Chinchilla, Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno and Chief Prosecutor Francisco Dall'Anese will travel to Colombia to talk with government officials about what information they have about FARC ties in Costa Rica.

Separately, the Legislative Assembly formed a committee yesterday to investigate the country's links to the Colombian rebel group.

After his departure, Berrocal wrote a letter to the assembly's president, Francisco Antonio Pachecho, requesting to appear before the committee in April or early May “to make the speech that, for reasons the country knows, I could not make today.”

The issue of FARC ties arose after information from the computer seized in Colombia's cross-border raid in Ecuador allegedly led police to $480,000 located in a safe at the home of a couple in Heredia, north of San José.