Colombian police have warned that the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) plans to regain its influence in universities across the country, writes Anastasia Moloney in Bogot .
According to police intelligence reports conveyed to rectors last month, Farc intends to intensify activity in 15 universities, using them as recruiting grounds. It is believed that, in each of the targeted campuses, about 20 students belonging to Farc urban militia units are thought to operate.
The increasingly violent nature of student protests in recent months has been blamed on the growing presence of Farc. It is believed that trained Farc militia members provide a ready supply of stones and Molotov cocktails during student protests.
"During the past two months, groups of people wearing hooded masks, who we believe to be Farc militia, have been stirring up student protests and trying to cause fires in and outside the university," said Óscar Ibarra, rector of the National Teaching University in Bogotá.
He added that students had received anti-government messages from various guerrilla groups and that Farc emblems and slogans had sprung up on walls around the university. Mr Ibarra said that such action unequivocally signalled "the active presence of Farc at the university".
Juan Ospina, the Government Secretary for Bogot , told El Tiempo , Colombia's leading daily newspaper, that Farc's attempt to infiltrate universities is "a worrying situation and one that deserves our maximum attention".
But some universities have played down the extent of the threat. "We can't confirm or deny the recent intelligence reports. There's no concrete evidence suggesting that Farc is actively recruiting here," said Martiniano Jaime, vice-rector of Antioquia University, Colombia's second largest state university. But he added that new pro-Farc graffiti had recently appeared around the campus.
Alfredo Castillo, a social sciences student from the District University in Bogotá, had noticed more pro-guerrilla pamphlets circulating on campus and new Farc graffiti in university toilets.
He said that, because of widespread political apathy among students and other student concerns, Farc did not pose a serious threat.
"The presence of guerrilla members in universities and at student meetings is nothing new," Mr Castillo said.
"A decade ago, students were more militant and concerned about class struggle. But now they're just worried about rising tuition fees."
During the 1960s and 1970s, some universities became bastions of guerrilla control. With the arrival of right-wing paramilitary groups in the late 1980s, Farc activity in universities subsided.
Now, with the demobilisation of paramilitary groups, and in the run-up to presidential elections at the end of this month, it appears that Farc is attempting to reassert its influence.