Following the rise of Hugo Chávez and the establishment of his Bolivarian Revolution, the FBL began to support Chávez. Following the election of Hugo Chávez, the FBL grew 50% by 2005, amounting to about 4,000 members located in Alto Apure, Apure according to a Venezuelan government source speaking to "El Universal". The FBL also operated with the complicity of the local chavista government of Apure, with chavista mayor Jorge Rodríguez being the head of Alto Apure. The Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress wrote at the time that the FBL worked with the leftist Colombian guerrilla group, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia People's Army (FARC), to kidnap and extort Venezuelans near the Colombia-Venezuela border. The FBL was also tasked with fighting against "intervention by U.S. and other foreign forces".