Chavez Says Colombia Could Provoke War With Guerrilla Claims

[Joanne98]

Source: Bloomberg

May 11 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Colombia is trying to undermine his government with accusations that he has supported Colombia's biggest guerrilla group, which he said could lead to a war.

Interpol, the biggest international police organization, is expected to make a ruling this week on the authenticity of computer files recovered from a camp of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which the U.S. and Colombia say contain evidence that Chavez is collaborating with the rebels.

Chavez said the U.S. and Colombia are pressuring Interpol to back them up as part of a plan to destabilize his socialist government. The accusations renew tensions between neighboring Colombia and Venezuela two months after a Colombian military raid on guerrillas hiding in Ecuador, a Venezuelan ally, prompted Chavez to send troops to guard the border. Chavez later called his troops back.

``The Colombian government is capable of provoking a war with Venezuela to try to justify U.S. intervention,'' Chavez said today during his weekly television program ``Alo Presidente.''



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aclURLDgBfSY&refer=latin_america

[Prophet 451]

1. I'll wait for the Interpol ruling

"Chavez said the U.S. and Colombia are pressuring Interpol to back them up as part of a plan to destabilize his socialist government"

He's probably right but let's wait and see.

[ronnie624]

12. Interference by the Bush Administration would certainly not be surprising.

Ronald Kenneth Noble, the current Secretary General of Interpol, has served in numerous high positions in the U.S. government. I don't want to impugn his character, mind you. I've read a couple of internet biographies on him recently, and he seems like a decent fellow, but under these circumstances, it doesn't take much imagination to envision the actions of the Bush Administration with regard to this investigation.

[Arctic Dave]

2. I guess the US backing Iranian oppsition by

arming and funding them is wrong then also?

[High Plains]

13. Yes. Not our business to overthrow other countries' governments.

We tried that in Iran in 1953. We're still paying the consequences of that one.

[Arctic Dave]

28. My comment was sarcastic and rhetorical.

I thought it would be obvious.

[ronnie624]

15. Out of curiosity,

What are your thoughts on agents of foreign governments operating in the United States, launching terrorist attacks and assassinations in an attempt to overthrow our government? What do you believe would be an appropriate response to such activity?

[Arctic Dave]

29. Read comment to post # 13

[Tempest]

3. Columbia agrees to join Bush in overthrowing Chavez's government

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/3424

[gbscar]

9. Different standards are being applied to this, funnily enough

How did a former attorney general get a hold of such alleged recent intelligence about a suppposed conspiracy and what does it matter for the Danilo Anderson case, which is about a past murder? The connection makes little sense.

Even if it were true, which is not clear at all and requires actual proof, that much is suspect.

Even the premise alone falls apart, but I guess the accusation itself is enough proof for some of you people. Off with anyone's head!

[Judi Lynn]

11. Thanks for posting the article. n/t

[Zorro]

4. Hugo is ratcheting up the rhetoric

because he knows the extent of his support for the FARC terrorists is about to be exposed.

We shall see.

Quite a peacemaker he is.

[ngant17]

5. that's the typical imperialist sentiment

which President Chavez is having to put up with.


Qui bono? Who benefits from these accusations? It is not Venezuela. It's clearly not in Chavez's interests to covertly assist FARC. He has been open and up front about his philosophical support of FARC's goals, they are fighting on the side of the proletariat in Columbia. He doesn't have to be ashamed of supporting their cause. He has criticized their methods of waging a guerrilla war, and he is the best person to promote a peaceful dialog between the government of Columbia and FARC. Thanks mainly to Chavez, civilian hostages have been released.

Uribe should be on trial, he has a past criminal record and his narco-trafficker history was known long before he decided to be Washington's favorite bootlicker in South America.

[Zorro]

6. FARC is a criminal terrorist organization

Does kidnapping, narcotrafficking, extortion, and murder advance the cause of the "proletariat" in Colombia?

Yes, he's quite a peacemaker -- threatening war with his neighbors.

He's going to be exposed like a roach when the light is turned on.

[LynnTheDem]

7. But of course you're keeping an open mind.

:rofl:

[Zorro]

27. Nope. This issue was resolved decades ago

Seems that there's been a resurgence in romanticizing these criminal terrorists lately by the Stalinist cult that comments on Colombian threads.

[Bacchus39]

10. please, show some respect to roaches

n/t

[ronnie624]

16. By the way,

'n/t' should be in the subject line, in order to indicate that there is no text below it.

Just trying to be helpful.

[gbscar]

8. Do you even understand what a "criminal record" is...

..., in terms of due process, or have you suddenly become judge, jury and executioner (or jailer, if you prefer)?

Accusations, which need to be proven by the way, do not a "criminal record" make, and even those do not really include Uribe's being a "narco-trafficker".

In fact, there is nothing of substance in the accusations about his trafficking drugs, which is what that is (being linked or friendly towards drug lords in the past, as the accusation usually says, does not make one a drug dealer or trafficker now or ever, in any case, and may not necessarily be a crime either, unless the link is of a criminal nature in itself). But don't let details bother you, I guess.

If Uribe ultimately deserves to go to jail, so be it. I won't cry. But not without respecting the law and legal guarantees and finding him guilty, which apparently are of little concern for you.

[redqueen]

14. Is Ollie North a narco-trafficker? (nt)

[Judi Lynn]

17. Here's a clear look at how our media cover for the right-wing death squads, in case you didn't know:

New York Times Covering for Colombian Death Squads

2/9/01

The human rights situation in Colombia is in a state of "alarming degradation," according to United Nations human rights observers (Associated Press, 1/20/01), but you won't learn about it in the New York Times.

According to a joint report from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), "political violence has markedly increased" since the first installment of the U.S.'s $1.3 billion Plan Colombia aid package was dispersed in August, with the average number of deaths from combat and political violence rising to 14 per day ("Colombia Human Rights Certification II", 1/01).

There were at least 27 massacres in the month of January alone, claiming the lives of as many as 200 civilians. The killings are overwhelmingly the work of right-wing paramilitaries with close ties to the Colombian military, such as the Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).

Despite the dramatic nature of the attacks and the U.S.'s heavy financial involvement in the war, the New York Times did not report on a single massacre during the month of January. The findings of the human rights groups' "Certification" report, including its recommendation that the U.S. cease military funding to Colombia, also went unmentioned.

Far from documenting the recent wave of paramilitary terror, the Times has told precisely the opposite story. Juan Forero's January 22 dispatch from the city of Barrancabermeja, headlined "Paramilitaries Adjust Attack Strategies," gave a highly distorted version of events.

Forero claims that "the militia members are killing fewer people than the rebels, who have responded to the threat in neighborhoods they long controlled with a furious assault on those they accuse of supporting the paramilitaries," and that the New Granada battalion of the Colombian military "is sending specially trained urban commandos into the neighborhoods to restore order."

The notion that the rebels in Barrancabermeja have been responsible for more killings than the paramilitaries contradicts all available evidence. A recent dispatch from Inter Press Service (1/15/01) reported that "one of the top complaints of human rights groups in the area is that a leading cause of violence is the attitude of the armed forces, which have facilitated-- by inaction or omission-- the advance of the paramilitaries, who are responsible for 80 percent of the massacres perpetrated in and around the city, according to several reports."

More:
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1700

~~~~~~~~~~~~
The pattern described in this 2001 article continues to the present and probably far into the future, unfortunately, unless we see a miracle and the entire range of our news outlets suddenly become righteous and develope some respect for the truth.

[Bacchus39]

18. why not learn Spanish instead of waiting for the news media to feed you

it can't be because you don't have enough time on your hands.

[Judi Lynn]

19. Moving right into the personal attacks? Why not stick to the story? n/t

[Bacchus39]

20. you are the one who changed the subject, blaming the media for your ignorance

only you can help you.


the story is about Chavez's threatening war with Colombia.

[Judi Lynn]

21. Don't embarrass yourself. U.S. citizens have every right to expect their own media to tell them the

truth about the countries their own government is dealing with, in their name, using their own tax dollars.

Reality is on my side.

[Bacchus39]

22. yeah, as if this is a priority for the media or US citizens. you will continue to be disappointed

in perpetuity.

[ronnie624]

23. Silly.

One is no more likely to be 'fed' by English news sources than Spanish ones. There is a great diversity of sources in both languages, but there are far more in English, so I don't have any worries about whether I am being properly informed.

I think you like to post news in Spanish, because it helps to feed your little ego. I don't know if you can speak Spanish or not. I only know that you say you can. On the internet, we can be whatever we want, and no one is the wiser.

[Bacchus39]

24. Spanish web sites and TV tend to cover more of Latin America

should I make this a thread title in Latest Breaking News???

[ronnie624]

25. Do as you wish,

but I was responding to a message in which you claimed that one was being 'fed' by English sources as opposed to a Spanish ones. Are you now attempting to divert attention away from that as well?

You must surely have set a record by now for the duration of a disruptor on DU.

[Zorro]

26. ronnie boy's definition of "Disruptor"

Someone who repeatedly kicks his ass in a thread.