Chavez moves military on Columbian border

[CJvR]

After the Empire surrendered to Hollywood I suspect...

[apocolypse]

Chavez reminds me of a kid that can't get enough attention so every once in a while has a temper tantrum.

I mean really, he keeps going on about the "US this" and "US that" while the majority of America really couldn't give two shits. In fact, the only time I really hear about it is when Chavez goes and has another good cry again.

[Macunaima]

The plot thickens:

Colombia says FARC documents show Chavez funding
03 Mar 2008 18:41:36 GMT
Source: Reuters
BOGOTA, March 3 (Reuters) - Colombia's police commander said on Monday documents found at the camp of a top rebel commander killed in a raid showed evidence Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had made $300 million payments to FARC guerrillas.

Gen. Oscar Naranjo earlier said computers found in the camp of FARC commander Raul Reyes had revealed documents showing ties between the rebel leader and a representative of the government of Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa.

Ecuador has dismissed the charges as false.

(Reporting by Patrick Markey in Bogota)

Another Portuguese-only source details that the representative mentioned above is to be an Ecuadorian Ministry, Gustavo Larrea, who supposedly had a meeting with Raul Reyes in January, on behalf of his (Ecuador) president.

[KlavoHunter]

So when exactly did the spread of English change from British Imperialism to American Imperialism?

1945?

[Crazy_Vasey]

Colombia says FARC documents show Chavez funding
03 Mar 2008 18:41:36 GMT
Source: Reuters
BOGOTA, March 3 (Reuters) - Colombia's police commander said on Monday documents found at the camp of a top rebel commander killed in a raid showed evidence Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had made $300 million payments to FARC guerrillas.

Gen. Oscar Naranjo earlier said computers found in the camp of FARC commander Raul Reyes had revealed documents showing ties between the rebel leader and a representative of the government of Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa.

Ecuador has dismissed the charges as false.

(Reporting by Patrick Markey in Bogota)

It's all fun and games till someone gets caught funding terrorists. Doesn't this just brighten your day?

[Rogue 9]

It's all fun and games till someone gets caught funding terrorists. Doesn't this just brighten your day?

Look two posts up.

[Crazy_Vasey]

Ah, oops.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

As conspiracy theories go by, this has got to take the prize if it turns out true. Of course, all sides will deny any wrong doing unless it goes up to the UN.

[Macunaima]

As conspiracy theories go by, this has got to take the prize if it turns out true. Of course, all sides will deny any wrong doing unless it goes up to the UN.

Colombia has already stated that will take the evidence to the UN and OAS. If they really do have a strong set of evidences to show, it could be a serious smoking gun against Chavez.

[RIPP_n_WIPE]

In all honestly I wouldn't feel bad about an american supported invasion of venezuela if this turns out to be true. Of course we'd only hold the oil field and derricks while the rest of the country goes to the shitter. Honestly I used to have a modicum of respect for Chavez "sticking it to the man" but it appears that he's gone quite loony, attempting to back military pressure against columbia, whilst at the same time funding terrorists in columbia.

What'd be even sweeter is if China were to some how jump on the anti-terror bandwagon (they won't and can't ). Make a pressence is the western hemisphere, set up permanent bases in an occupied venezuela and tie up more oil if you count sudan.

[Lancer]

What are you talking about? China's been using the anti-terror bandwagon to deflect criticism over alleged human rights abuses in its western provinces for quite some time now.

That still doesn't give them the capability to transport enough of their armed forces to invade the Falkland Islands, let alone Venuzuela.

[Sidewinder]

Besides the Commie-- I mean, Socialist Solidarity, is there any reason for Ecuador and Venezuela to support groups opposing the Colombian government, e.g., territorial disputes or competing claims of offshore oil fields?

[K. A. Pital]

Besides the Commie-- I mean, Socialist Solidarity, is there any reason for Ecuador and Venezuela to support groups opposing the Colombian government, e.g., territorial disputes or competing claims of offshore oil fields?

Only a few nations consider FARC terrorist (mostly US, EU, etc), and those aren't the Latin American ones, so I guess there's little problem in sponsoring them. Venezuela has Los Monjes territorial dispute with Colombia, I don't know about Equador.

[scythewielder]

Besides the Commie-- I mean, Socialist Solidarity, is there any reason for Ecuador and Venezuela to support groups opposing the Colombian government, e.g., territorial disputes or competing claims of offshore oil fields?

Only a few nations consider FARC terrorist (mostly US, EU, etc), and those aren't the Latin American ones, so I guess there's little problem in sponsoring them. Venezuela has Los Monjes territorial dispute with Colombia, I don't know about Equador.

Not considering them to be "terrorists" as a matter of official classification doesn't mean they invoke sympathy within the rest of the governments in the region, with exceptions such as Venezuela and Nicaragua, let alone their respective populations.

Openly sponsoring criminals and kidnappers, even if they are not officially considered terrorists per se, isn't exactly an easy thing to sell outside of a few left-wing circles. So I think you're giving them a little too much credit.

Btw, Venezuela's and Colombia's maritime dispute doesn't include Los Monjes at this point, just the actual waters. Nothing with Ecuador as far as I know.

[K. A. Pital]

Not considering them to be "terrorists" as a matter of official classification doesn't mean they invoke sympathy within the rest of the governments in the region

It does mean that other regional governments for the most part don't give a shit, not that they sympathize with FARC.

[scythewielder]

Not considering them to be "terrorists" as a matter of official classification doesn't mean they invoke sympathy within the rest of the governments in the region

It does mean that other regional governments for the most part don't give a shit, not that they sympathize with FARC.

Well, at heart, yeah.

There's really no reason to actually care about what doesn't concern them too much in the first place.

But the underlying point is there's still a long road from "not giving a shit" to providing open sponsorship and considering that to be "not a problem", which requires either a kind sympathy or some sort of additional motivation.

[hongi]

What'd be even sweeter is if China were to some how jump on the anti-terror bandwagon (they won't and can't Sad ). Make a pressence is the western hemisphere, set up permanent bases in an occupied venezuela and tie up more oil if you count sudan.

Why would China do that?

It reminds me of some right-wing idiots glibly complaining about why China isn't supporting the War on Terror with their own troops, presumably because China has more men to 'spare' than oh so precious American troops. The Chinese are expendable, cause they're not real people you see.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Why would China do that?

It reminds me of some right-wing idiots glibly complaining about why China isn't supporting the War on Terror with their own troops, presumably because China has more men to 'spare' than oh so precious American troops. The Chinese are expendable, cause they're not real people you see.

I think the Chinese in general don't give a fuck when it comes to this sort of things, unless it hurts their money or is related to Taiwan. "Bo Chup" in Hokkien or Teochew, as they call it. (Meaning, "Don't give a Fuck")

[Dartzap]

Beeb

Venezuela troops 'move to border'
Thousands of Venezuelan troops supported by tanks are moving towards the border with Colombia, Venezuela's defence minister has said.

President Hugo Chavez ordered 10 battalions to the border on Sunday after Colombian troops killed a top Farc rebel leader in Ecuador.

Venezuelan Gen Jesus Gonzalez said almost 90% of the troops were in place. There is no independent confirmation.

Ecuador has also mobilised troops after the cross-border raid on Saturday.

Venezuelan Defence Minister Gustavo Rangel said the armed forces were "ready to defend the sacred sovereignty of the homeland".

'We were bombed'

The cross-border raid into Ecuadorian territory by Colombian forces to kill a leftist rebel leader from the Farc (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) has sparked a growing row.

Both Venezuela and Ecuador have broken off diplomatic ties with Bogota.

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said he wants the international community to condemn Colombia's actions and for Bogota to apologise for the raid.

"There has been an aggression. The aggressor has to apologise and the international community has to condemn it," he said in Brasilia before meeting Brazil's President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.

"Otherwise we will have to defend ourselves by our own means. I insist on this: Ecuador is ready to go to the ultimate consequences.

"Nobody wants war. But we won't fool ourselves. The war was started by Colombia. We were bombed."

Mr Correa has been visiting Latin American capitals to bolster support for his position.
Latin American governments have criticised Colombia for the raid but have urged the three countries not to escalate the crisis.

On Wednesday, Washington said it was confident the crisis would be resolved peacefully and played down reports of troops movements.

"We do not have independent confirmation of that claim of troop movements down in that area," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

She urged Colombia and Ecuador to reach a peaceful settlement of their dispute without any input from Venezuela.

"We do think it's curious that a country such as Venezuela would be raising a spectre of military action against a country who was defending itself against terrorism. That says a lot about Venezuela."

'Farc link'

Colombia has said it regrets conducting the cross-border raid but that it was necessary "in the fight against terrorism", Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo said on Monday.

Colombian forces struck against a Farc jungle camp a few kilometres inside Ecuador early on Saturday morning.

One of the Farc's most senior commanders, Raul Reyes, was killed along with 16 other rebels.

Colombia says documents were found at the camp that link both Ecuador and Venezuela to the Colombian rebel group.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said he would not allow his country to be drawn into open war with his neighbours but that his military would target the Farc "wherever they are".

He said he was not mobilising Colombian troops in response to Venezuela's and Ecuador's deployments.

Colombia receives billions of dollars in aid from the US to fight the Farc, which the US and the EU view as a terrorist organisation.
Story from BBC NEWS:

Well...this could be interesting.

[Sidewinder]

Sounds like Chavez is playing chicken with Uribe, with thousands of Venezuelan and Colombian troops' lives at stake. I'm still not clear as to why the hell Chavez is provoking Colombia like this. (Regarding territorial disputes, the Wikipedia article on Los Monjes says it's under Venezuelan control; I doubt it's the reason Chavez is moving troops to the Colombian border.)

[Battlehymn Republic]

China in Venezuela? You've been looking at Mercenaries 2 previews, haven't you? Shame that the game's factions are retarded and more unrealistic than its predecessor's.

[Guardsman Bass]

And onward it goes.

MEXICO CITY — Nicaragua broke off diplomatic relations with Colombia on Thursday, entering the fray on the side of Ecuador and Venezuela in a tense standoff over Colombia’s decision last week to raid a rebel camp on Ecuadorean soil.

President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua said he was taking the action to show solidarity with President Rafael Correa of Ecuador, who was visiting Managua, Nicaragua’s capital. Mr. Ortega’s government also has a territorial dispute with Colombia.

The strike on Saturday against Colombian rebels hiding just over the border in Ecuador has ignited a diplomatic and military crisis. Ecuador and Venezuela have sent troops to their borders with Colombia, which is the largest recipient of American military aid in Latin America.

With Mr. Ortega’s diplomatic maneuver, he joined an alliance of left-leaning states trying to isolate Colombia and to press its president, Álvaro Uribe, to apologize. The move occurred on the same day that Ecuador reported capturing five people on its northern frontier.

Ecuador’s security minister, Gustavo Larrea, said in Quito that they were believed to be rebels who survived the raid, according to news reports.

Mr. Uribe regards the rebel group — the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by the acronym FARC — as terrorists and drug traffickers, while other leaders in the region see them as revolutionaries fighting a United States-backed puppet government.

“We are breaking with the terrorist politics that Álvaro Uribe’s government is employing,” said Mr. Ortega, who once led the Sandinista guerrillas against American-backed forces in Nicaragua.

Colombia, for its part, played down worries that the dispute could escalate into a war. The Colombian vice president, Francisco Santos, told Reuters in Brussels that his country “won’t fall into the game of provocation.”

Colombia has contended that Ecuador’s government has tolerated the FARC’s presence on its soil. But Ecuadorean officials say they have destroyed more than a dozen FARC camps in their territory in recent years.

This whole damn thing just keeps dragging out. Hopefully they'll make some kind of arrangement soon.

[K. A. Pital]

Hahaha. Seems suddenly a lot of nations found axes to grind against Colombia. I'm no expert in LA foreign relations, but maybe that's Chavez testing the strength and commitment of his continental allies - who's a "pussy" and who's not - using Colombia as a convenient mock target.