Chavez, are you with us or with the terrorists?

More than three months ago, my new friends at Western Hemisphere Policy Watch (who seem to be bears of sorts since they’ve been in hibernation since Christmas Eve – maybe this link will shake them awake) recommended that the US State Department put Venezuela on the terror watch list.

Since we are unwilling to recall our Ambassador, and it took a Spanish King (a Bourbon no less) to set HC straight, why not make this token gesture that will surely invigorate the youth that have rallied to this effort?

According to the Miami Herald this morning, those wheels are in motion;

The Bush administration has launched a preliminary inquiry that could land Venezuela on the U.S. list of nations that support terrorism because of its alleged close links to Colombian rebels, a senior government official has confirmed.

The inquiry, by government lawyers, is the first step in a process that could see Venezuela join North Korea, Cuba, Sudan, Syria and Iran as countries designated by the State Department as supporters of terrorism.

U.S. laws permit some leeway on the scope of sanctions, but experts say that adding Venezuela to the list could force U.S. and even foreign firms to sever or curtail links with one of the world’s leading oil producers and the owner of Citgo Petroleum.

The inquiry comes after Colombia seized four computers belonging to a guerrilla leader in a March 1 raid into Ecuador. The documents suggest Venezuela, among other things, promised $300 million to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

The U.S. and Colombian governments and the European Union have officially designated the FARC as a terrorist organization, but Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has said publicly that he considers it a legitimate insurgency.

A senior U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the delicate nature of the subject, said government lawyers had been asked to clarify ”what goes into effect in terms of prohibitions, or prohibited activities” when a country is put on the U.S. list.

After Chavez’ little drama play last week, feigning outrage at a violation of Ecuador’s sovereignty, it is clear that Chavez, and his poodle Correa, have a deeper interest in the success of FARC than they do in the success of the Colombia’s government and it’s people.

Stockpiling weapons and instruments of war in a relatively peaceful corner of the world should have shaken the OAS awake, but it hasn’t, since they decided to side with Correa and FARC – despite the damning evidence that President Uribe presented to the council in Santo Domingo proving Chavez and Correa’s support of FARC and their nefarious activities.

Chavez claims to have no need of trade with the US, let’s just see.

Anyone interested in reading summation of the documents Colombia has culled from Raul Reyes’ computers, Colombian Semana has the most important parts of the evidence (in Spanish) .

Category: Foreign Policy, Hugo Chavez