Hugo Chavez tells Venezuela troops to 'prepare for war' with Colombia

[darrels joy]

Hugo Chavez tells Venezuela troops to 'prepare for war' with Colombia

Hannah Strange in Caracas

(AFP/Getty)




President Chavez is upset at a military bases deal between the US and Colombia








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Colombia and Venezuela drew closer to the brink of conflict today after President Hugo Chavez sent 15,000 Venezuelan troops to the volatile border between the two countries, claiming that the US planned to use Colombian bases to mount an invasion of his oil-rich nation.

President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia said that he would appeal to the UN over the threat, which comes after months of sabre rattling over a deal that allows the US to conduct operations out of Colombian bases.

On Sunday Mr Chavez, Washington’s number one foe in the region, ordered the Venezuelan military and populace to prepare to “defend the homeland”. President Alvaro Uribe responded that Colombia had not made any “bellicose move” towards its neighbour despite Mr Chavez’s threats of war.

“Let’s not waste a day on our main aim: to prepare for war and to help the people prepare for war, because it is everyone’s responsibility,” Mr Chavez said on his weekly radio and television show Alo Presidente.

The fiery socialist, who narrowly survived a 2002 coup attempt that many believe was US-backed, claims that Washington wants to use Colombia to dispose of his revolutionary government and to secure Venezuela’s vast oil supplies.

“The empire is more threatening than ever,” the former paratrooper warned. “Don’t make a mistake, Mr Obama, by ordering an attack against Venezuela by way of Colombia.” Such a war would set the whole continent alight, he cautioned.

The US and Colombia deny the claims, insisting that the deal, signed just over a week ago, only allows US troops to mount anti-narcotics and terrorism operations inside Colombian territory. “The only thing we are interested in is defeating terrorism related to drug trafficking, which has been so unfair to Colombians for so many years,” Mr Uribe said.

The two Andean nations have long had an acrimonious relationship, with Bogota accusing Mr Chavez of providing sanctuary to Colombian left-wing guerillas who cross the border to regroup. It also claims that the Venezuelan authorities are collaborating with paramilitaries and traffickers smuggling drugs out of Colombia, the world’s largest producer of cocaine.

But Venezuela says that it is helpless in the face of such chaos spilling over from its neighbour. Mr Chavez has accused Colombia of allowing nefarious elements to cross the border to destabilise Venezuela. Before sending the 15,000 troops Venezuela had already beefed up its military presence along the 1,375-mile border due to the escalating tensions, exacerbated in recent weeks by a series of shootings and slayings.

Last week two Venezuelan soldiers were shot dead by four men on motorcycles at a checkpoint in the western border state of Táchira, prompting the Chavez Government to temporarily shut down border crossings.

In October the bullet-ridden corpses of 11 men, including nine Colombians, were found dumped in Táchira after being abducted from a football pitch.

Mr Chavez claimed that the men were Colombian agents sent to destabilise Venezuela.

Later that month the Venezuelan Government said that it had captured two spies from the Colombian intelligence agency DAS, claiming that behind the espionage lay “the hand of the United States”. The Colombian Government has acknowledged the seizure of one agent, but claims that he was holidaying in Venezuela and arrested in a set-up. A wave of arrests in the border region has since seen hundreds detained for alleged paramilitary involvement.

It is not the first time that the two countries have come so close to war, with some labelling the simmering conflict the Cold War of the Andes.

Many fear that with the current touchpaper tensions in the border region, this latest crisis could be harder to pull back from.

Venezuela has recently spent more than $3 billion (£1.8 billion) on arms, mostly from Russia, prompting the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to warn of a regional arms race. Washington sees its ally Colombia as a buffer against Mr Chavez and other Latin American socialists such as Rafael Correa in Ecuador, Evo Morales in Bolivia and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...SS&attr=797093

[revwardoc]

Dear President Chavez,

Paranoia will destroy ya!

Love & Kisses,
The sane people of the Americas.