Chavez’ sabre rattling
Photo from Reuters
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez speaks during his weekly broadcast ‘Alo Presidente’ in Caracas March 2, 2008. Chavez ordered tank battalions to the Colombian border on Sunday after Colombian troops struck inside another of its neighbors, Ecuador, in an attack on rebels.
The death of Raul Reyes, FARC’s second-in-command was welcomed throughout the civilized world as good news of a small victory over the 40-year old band of narco-terrorists who abandoned their Marxist roots long ago for the profits of drug-running and kidnapping. Some of the details came out this morning when the Colombian government admitted that it fired missiles across the border with Equador to hit the terrorists’ base. The Colombians had done so with the explicit permission of the Equadoran government, run by Chavez acolyte Rafael Correa.
Babalu Blog writes that Chavez has ordered ten battalions of the Venezuelan Army to the Colombian frontier and the Miami Herald claims that Chavez says Correa is mobilizing his forces in Equador as well;
Chavez called the Colombian government “a terrorist state” as he sided with the leftist rebels it has battled for decades, saying its military “invaded Ecuador, flagrantly violated Ecuador’s sovereignty.”
Neither Colombia’s foreign minister nor the country’s military leadership would comment on Chavez’s latest move when pressed by reporters for comment Sunday as they left a funeral service in Bogota for a Colombian soldier killed in Saturday’s raid.
Speaking in Texas, U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said officials were monitoring the situation.
“This is an odd reaction by Venezuela to Colombia’s efforts against the FARC, a terrorist organization that continues to hold Colombians, Americans and others hostage,” Johndroe said.
Chavez said he had just spoken to Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa and that Ecuador was also sending troops to its border with Colombia. Chavez said his Ecuadorean ally told him that Uribe had lied and that the rebels were killed while asleep “in their pajamas.”
“This is something very serious. This could be the start of a war in South America,” Chavez said. He warned Colombian President Alvaro Uribe: “If it occurs to you to do this in Venezuela, President Uribe, I’ll send some Sukhois” – Russian warplanes recently bought by Venezuela.
Kate at A Colombo-Americana’s Perspective writes that Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega has joined in the noise making;
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega condemned Colombia’s killing of a top rebel commander and said it could hurt the chances of a peace accord.
Ortega, a former Marxist revolutionary and U.S. Cold War foe who was voted back to power in late 2006, called on Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to seek a peace process with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
The Real Cuba quotes Chavez saying he wants to “liberate” Colombia from Uribe and that Uribe has turned Colombia into the Israel of Latin America;
Upset at the death of FARC terrorist Raul Reyes at the hands of the Colombian army, Hugo Chávez accused the Colombian president of being a “criminal” and promised to “liberate” the neighboring country.
“The Colombian government has become the Israel of Latin America,” an agitated Chavez said, mentioning another country that he has criticized for its military strikes. “We aren’t going to permit Colombia to become the Israel of these lands.”
Chavez accused Colombian president Alvaro Uribe of being a puppet of Washington and acting on behalf of the U.S. government, saying “Dracula’s fangs are covered in blood.” “Some day Colombia will be freed from the hand of the (U.S.) empire,” Chavez said. “We have to liberate Colombia,” he added.
The “Israel” of Latin America because they attack terrorists before the terrorists have a chance to attack them. I suppose a civilized nation might question why FARC terrorists were snoozing unmolested in Equador. But instead Chavez is upset that Colombia has snatched his publicity over the released hostages last week and feels a need to grab headlines again.
Well, this explains why Chavez is buying tons of weapons from Russia as I wrote the other day. Kate wrote yesterday that Chavez announced the formation of “Bolivarian Police” that he can form from his loyal chavistas – also as I predicted the other day. Daniel at Venezuela News and Views writes that squatter shacks are multiplying, that food is harder to come by and that garbage is piling up – while Chavez puts Venezuelans in danger of a needless war.
Ed Morrisey at Hot Air questions if this doesn’t mean that Chavez is admitting to an alliance with FARC terrorists. I think it’s much simpler than that – just Chavez getting more free press.
Category: Foreign Policy, Hugo Chavez
