FrankRep
03-06-2008, 02:11 AM
Venezuelan Troops Amass at Colombian Border
The John Birch Society (http://www.JBS.org/)
March 6, 2008
ARTICLE SYNOPSIS:
The Colombian military, financed and armed largely by U.S. aid, entered Ecuadorian territory and killed one of the top leaders of the leftist terror organization known as FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Venezuela and Ecuador responded by cutting diplomatic ties and sending troops to the border.
Follow this link to the original source: "Venezuela mobilizes forces to Colombia border (http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0227633020080306)"
COMMENTARY:
Colombia is accusing Venezuela and Ecuador of funding and harboring Marxist guerillas. Venezuela is accusing Colombia of being an agent of "U.S. imperialism" in the region. Ecuador is demanding an apology because the Colombian military bombed their country. Bush has vowed to stand with Colombia.
The chaos started after an unauthorized weekend incursion into Ecuador by Colombian forces that killed over 20 FARC guerillas and wounded several others. Colombia claims they were in hot pursuit but Ecuador has called the attack a "massacre," alleging that the guerillas were killed while they slept.
Tensions are rapidly escalating as the threats and accusations fly. Ecuador immediately severed all diplomatic ties with Colombia and sent troops to the border. Venezuela has shut down its embassy in Colombia while Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s leftist president, deployed the air force and ten tank battalions to the border, saying the Colombian attack on FARC could lead to war.
"We don’t want war," Chavez said during his weekly address to the nation. "But we won’t let the U.S. Empire or its lapdog come to weaken us."
He also warned Colombian President Alvaro Uribe that if troops crossed the border into Venezuela he would send war planes recently purchased from Russia.
"My parents are really mad with Chavez’s actions of [sending] troops to the border and with the expulsion of the Colombian embassy members," said Jorge Bastidas, a Venezuelan refugee who fled the country several years ago after Chavez seized his parents’ businesses. "The FARC has been a problem for the Venezuelans because of the kidnappings. I have friends that have to pay a monthly payment so they won’t get kidnapped."
Analysts are predicting that the U.S. could soon find itself involved in a proxy war against Venezuela, which could in turn create support for the unpopular Chavez regime among Venezuelans.
Colombian officials say they found evidence that Venezuela provided $300 million to FARC and that the terrorist organization has been trying to purchase uranium. The records were supposedly on a laptop recovered during the raid on the FARC’s jungle camp where Colombian troops also killed Raul Reyes, allegedly FARC’s second-in-command.
The documents were not released but Ecuador and Venezuela dismissed the charges, even calling Colombia a "terrorist state." Investigations are still proceeding but the Colombian chief of police has suggested that the money could have been part of negotiations to release several hostages, including three U.S. defense contractors. In response, Chavez presented a laptop seized from a drug-lord which he claims has evidence linking Colombia’s national police chief to the cocaine trade.
"We had to do it because the FARC has been terrorizing our people for so long," said Mauricio Guzman, a Colombian native who spends half of his time in Bogota and the other half in Florida. "The consequences were terrible in that we had to invade Ecuador and violate their sovereignty, but we issued an apology, and there is absolutely no question that it had to be done."
The conflict in Colombia has been raging for decades. It is often considered a civil war, with higher estimates claiming that FARC controls almost 40 percent of Colombia. The guerillas are funded by other communist leaders, cocaine trafficking, kidnappings, counterfeiting and other activities, while U.S. taxes supply the Colombian military and other paramilitary squads with weapons, intelligence and cash.
The U.S. government has been sending over half of a billion dollars per year as part of Plan Colombia. American aid since the year 2000 totals more than $5 billion. The great majority of the aid goes to the military and police, over 80 percent most years. Most of that usually ends up back in the hands of the U.S. military-industrial complex which supplies the Colombian government with weapons to fight the drug trade and the leftist guerillas. Allegations abound claiming that the Colombian government is also using the aid to arm and fund other Colombian paramilitary squads such as the so-called "Black Eagles."
About 500 U.S. military personnel were also sent to Colombia to help train local forces, but critics say U.S. efforts have resulted in a backlash that actually helps the FARC recruit more fighters. As fields are fumigated to destroy coca plants, the chemicals used end up devastating legal crops and creating environmental hazards. That causes destitute farmers to turn to the FARC for assistance.
The Organization of American States, which calls itself "the region’s principal multilateral forum for strengthening democracy," convened an emergency meeting Tuesday to deal with the emerging crisis. The secretary-general said the conflict "should be resolved within a framework of the respect of the principles that govern coexistence among American nations." Washington has said that the conflict should be mediated through the OAS, but critics say the organization is actually aimed at subverting national sovereignty, not mediating conflicts.
"We do fully understand and fully support the need of the Colombian government to tackle and respond to threats posed by this terrorist organization," a U.S. State Department spokesman said (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N03374614.htm) before adding: "we understand the concerns that the Ecuadorean government has raised."
The FARC is undoubtedly a dangerous terrorist organization, but foreign aid is still unconstitutional. In this instance it happens to be enriching the U.S. defense establishment. If Congress feels that the FARC presents a threat to national security, they should issue a letter of Marque and Reprisal (http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2001/tst091701.htm) to constitutionally target these non-state actors.
SOURCE:
http://www.jbs.org/node/7332
The John Birch Society (http://www.JBS.org/)
March 6, 2008
ARTICLE SYNOPSIS:
The Colombian military, financed and armed largely by U.S. aid, entered Ecuadorian territory and killed one of the top leaders of the leftist terror organization known as FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Venezuela and Ecuador responded by cutting diplomatic ties and sending troops to the border.
Follow this link to the original source: "Venezuela mobilizes forces to Colombia border (http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0227633020080306)"
COMMENTARY:
Colombia is accusing Venezuela and Ecuador of funding and harboring Marxist guerillas. Venezuela is accusing Colombia of being an agent of "U.S. imperialism" in the region. Ecuador is demanding an apology because the Colombian military bombed their country. Bush has vowed to stand with Colombia.
The chaos started after an unauthorized weekend incursion into Ecuador by Colombian forces that killed over 20 FARC guerillas and wounded several others. Colombia claims they were in hot pursuit but Ecuador has called the attack a "massacre," alleging that the guerillas were killed while they slept.
Tensions are rapidly escalating as the threats and accusations fly. Ecuador immediately severed all diplomatic ties with Colombia and sent troops to the border. Venezuela has shut down its embassy in Colombia while Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s leftist president, deployed the air force and ten tank battalions to the border, saying the Colombian attack on FARC could lead to war.
"We don’t want war," Chavez said during his weekly address to the nation. "But we won’t let the U.S. Empire or its lapdog come to weaken us."
He also warned Colombian President Alvaro Uribe that if troops crossed the border into Venezuela he would send war planes recently purchased from Russia.
"My parents are really mad with Chavez’s actions of [sending] troops to the border and with the expulsion of the Colombian embassy members," said Jorge Bastidas, a Venezuelan refugee who fled the country several years ago after Chavez seized his parents’ businesses. "The FARC has been a problem for the Venezuelans because of the kidnappings. I have friends that have to pay a monthly payment so they won’t get kidnapped."
Analysts are predicting that the U.S. could soon find itself involved in a proxy war against Venezuela, which could in turn create support for the unpopular Chavez regime among Venezuelans.
Colombian officials say they found evidence that Venezuela provided $300 million to FARC and that the terrorist organization has been trying to purchase uranium. The records were supposedly on a laptop recovered during the raid on the FARC’s jungle camp where Colombian troops also killed Raul Reyes, allegedly FARC’s second-in-command.
The documents were not released but Ecuador and Venezuela dismissed the charges, even calling Colombia a "terrorist state." Investigations are still proceeding but the Colombian chief of police has suggested that the money could have been part of negotiations to release several hostages, including three U.S. defense contractors. In response, Chavez presented a laptop seized from a drug-lord which he claims has evidence linking Colombia’s national police chief to the cocaine trade.
"We had to do it because the FARC has been terrorizing our people for so long," said Mauricio Guzman, a Colombian native who spends half of his time in Bogota and the other half in Florida. "The consequences were terrible in that we had to invade Ecuador and violate their sovereignty, but we issued an apology, and there is absolutely no question that it had to be done."
The conflict in Colombia has been raging for decades. It is often considered a civil war, with higher estimates claiming that FARC controls almost 40 percent of Colombia. The guerillas are funded by other communist leaders, cocaine trafficking, kidnappings, counterfeiting and other activities, while U.S. taxes supply the Colombian military and other paramilitary squads with weapons, intelligence and cash.
The U.S. government has been sending over half of a billion dollars per year as part of Plan Colombia. American aid since the year 2000 totals more than $5 billion. The great majority of the aid goes to the military and police, over 80 percent most years. Most of that usually ends up back in the hands of the U.S. military-industrial complex which supplies the Colombian government with weapons to fight the drug trade and the leftist guerillas. Allegations abound claiming that the Colombian government is also using the aid to arm and fund other Colombian paramilitary squads such as the so-called "Black Eagles."
About 500 U.S. military personnel were also sent to Colombia to help train local forces, but critics say U.S. efforts have resulted in a backlash that actually helps the FARC recruit more fighters. As fields are fumigated to destroy coca plants, the chemicals used end up devastating legal crops and creating environmental hazards. That causes destitute farmers to turn to the FARC for assistance.
The Organization of American States, which calls itself "the region’s principal multilateral forum for strengthening democracy," convened an emergency meeting Tuesday to deal with the emerging crisis. The secretary-general said the conflict "should be resolved within a framework of the respect of the principles that govern coexistence among American nations." Washington has said that the conflict should be mediated through the OAS, but critics say the organization is actually aimed at subverting national sovereignty, not mediating conflicts.
"We do fully understand and fully support the need of the Colombian government to tackle and respond to threats posed by this terrorist organization," a U.S. State Department spokesman said (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N03374614.htm) before adding: "we understand the concerns that the Ecuadorean government has raised."
The FARC is undoubtedly a dangerous terrorist organization, but foreign aid is still unconstitutional. In this instance it happens to be enriching the U.S. defense establishment. If Congress feels that the FARC presents a threat to national security, they should issue a letter of Marque and Reprisal (http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2001/tst091701.htm) to constitutionally target these non-state actors.
SOURCE:
http://www.jbs.org/node/7332