Bolivia: CIA Knew About Terrorist Plans Against Cuban and Venezuelan Brigades Jean-Guy Allard
http://tinyurl.com/25ftxap
CIA agent Istvan Belovai, advisor of the Eduardo Rosza's paramilitary conspiracy to assassinate Evo Morales, in April, 2009, also knew about murderous plans against humanitarian brigades of Cuban and Venezuelan doctors and engineers developing communitarian works in the poorest communities the eastern part of Bolivia.
Proof of this are electronic messages between Rosza and Belovai, which are being carefully studied since they were discovered by the Bolivian Data and Analysis Research Center in Cochabamba, chaired by the well-known anthropologist and communicator Wilson Garcia Merida.
"Rosza proposed that Belovai to attack specific targets, which had been planned through these emails," said the researcher.
"They talked about the exploitation of the Pailon bridge --the largest in Bolivia, over a mile long, opened by Evo Morales in a sugar plantation area in Santa Cruz--, as well as those points carefully identified through Google maps. In the latter are brigades of Venezuelan military engineers of the binational groups, who are supporting with communitarian actions the poorest municipalities of Bolivia, along with Cuban doctors."
Former Hungarian intelligence officer, Istvan Belovai, who worked as a liaison officer between the Hungarian-Croatian Eduardo Rosza Flores, head of the paramilitary group responsible for assassination, and the US intelligence, died on December 6 in Denver, U.S., where he lived since he hurriedly left his homeland in 1990.
The circumstances of Belovai's death are still unknown.
In the mid eighties, the then Lieutenant Colonel Istvan Belovai (the "Scorpion-B" agent) of the Hungarian military intelligence services hit the headlines when he informed the CIA about the names of U.S. officials informing the Hungarian intelligence. By the 90's, Belovai immigrated to the U.S. and joined the main U.S. spy agency.
Belovai's death took place just when the content of one of Rosza Flores' computer-laptops was being carefully revised. In a folder called Bel-Norte, Bolivian experts came across several emails Rosza Flores exchanges with agent Belovai.
Terrorist Valladares Involved
In these emails between the terrorist and the Hungarian spy, the name of the representative of the Human Rights Foundation in Bolivia Hugo Acha Melgar is mentioned. Acha is currently a fugitive in the U.S. after having been denounced as one of the main financiers of the terrorist war plotted against Bolivia.
Acha Melgar was then in permanent contact with Cuban-American terrorist Armando Valladares, who ran the activities of this foundation used by the CIA as a facade from New York.
The relation between Hugo Acha Melgar and Valladares is direct, since this lawyer boasted about it in public -- he was a co-conductor of a TV program with a high audience in Santa Cruz, where he used to refer to Valladares as his "dear personal friend." In fact, from the direct link between Acha Melgar and Valladares, the arrival of "international observers" (anti Castro agents) to Santa Cruz took place, during the January 2009 referendum, among these observers was Belovai," said Wilson Garcia Merida.
Valladares -- the terrorist of Cuban origin was arrested in Havana City with Carlos Alberto Montaner on December 1960, while they were directing terrorist attacks in stores and movies of the Cuban capital, sponsored by the CIA-- led his subversive organization from the very Empire State Building of New York, without the interference of the FBI. A while after the events of Santa Cruz, Valladares resigned the presidency of that organization, a facade already known due to his interfering campaigns against Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela.
Between October and November 2008, when the cited correspondence took place, Rosza Flores "had started to distance himself from his separatist godfathers of the Santa Cruz oligarchy, since they refused to give him the financing resources they demanded to buy weapons of mass destruction like missiles and tanks," and looked then for the direct contact with the CIA and its financial support via Belovai and Valladares.
The aim of the plot, thwarted in April 2009 in the Hotel las Americas in Santa Cruz, was to assassinate President Evo Morales, his vice president Alvaro Garcia Linera and the minister of Government, Juan Ramon Quintana.
They All Took Refuge In the United States
Among the leaders of the Supreme Council, who directed the conspiracy to assassinate Evo Morales, was an influential businessman from Santa Cruz, Branko Marinkovic, Croatian by origin.
Marinkovic escaped from Bolivia after being denounced by the district's attorney and found refugee in the United States.
After the disarticulation of the command, the head of Arbitration and Conciliation of Santa Cruz, Alejandro Melgar Pereira, a participant in the plot, fled from Bolivia to the U.S.
They also proved that Rosza Flores was in contact with UnoAmerica, a Latin American fascist organization headed by Alejandro Pena Esclusa, who then appeared at the side of the Honduran coup attackers.
Pena Esclusa has multiple links with the Cuban American mafia in Miami and runs two anti Chavez groups affiliated to his organization.
He was detained on July 5 by officials of the Bolivarian Service of National Intelligence (SEBIN), after an operation undertaken in his residency in Caracas. One kilogram of C4 explosives and 100 detonators were then confiscated.
Republished from Granma
Posted by BoliviaRising.blogspot.com
Chavez and Santos Sign Peace Agreement
Chavez-Santos Summit in Colombia: UNASUR-brokered Peace Breaks Out
by Francisco Dominguez / August 12th, 2010
http://tinyurl.com/28nz6zf
The already bad relations between Venezuela and Colombia took a turn for the worse after the accusations made by the outgoing Uribe government's OAS representative, Luis Hoyos, who charged the Venezuelan government with harbouring Colombian guerrillas (1,500) and allowing guerrilla camps (85) inside its territory. The "evidence" -- which has been pretty discredited -- for this batch of accusations, as with previous ones, also came from the eight 'magical laptops' seized by Colombian military forces in an illegal military attack in March 1, 2009.
Chavez reacted by breaking off relations with Colombia, leading to a further worsening of the relations between the two nations, but sent his foreign minister to attend Santos' inauguration anyway. Uribe's response was to announce that his government was lodging a formal accusation against Venezuela in the Inter-American Committee of Human Rights and another formal charge against President Chavez personally to the International Criminal Court, one day before Juan Manuel Santos inauguration. Furthermore, Uribe, reportedly, announced he would be prepared to testify to the ICC against Hugo Chavez.
However, after intense diplomatic activity undertaken by [Union of South American Nations] UNASUR, Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's Foreign Relations Minister, Nestor Kirchner, UNASUR's President, and Brazils' President, Lula, the latter two very publicly meeting with both Hugo Chavez and Juan Manuel Santos at various separate meetings, managed, in a matter of few days, to turn what looked like an inexorable slide to disaster, into one of the most extraordinary political turnarounds from the brink in recent Latin American history.
At his inauguration, Juan Manuel Santos stunned the world by announcing that his administration would be seeking to repair and normalise Colombia's relations with Venezuela and Ecuador as a matter of priority. And in stark contrast to the prevailing attitude under Uribe, Santos declared "The word war is not in my dictionary when I think about Colombia's relations with its neighbours" (a far cry from Uribe's warmongering). Furthermore, Santos had previously indicated his willingness, under certain conditions, to even talk to the Colombian guerrillas. More surprises were to follow: Santos ordered the handing over of Raul Reyes' 'magical laptops' to the government of Ecuador.
Some in the British media such as the Guardian, the Economist, the BBC and, of course, the ubiquitous Human Rights Watch, enthusiastically accepted the evidence publicised by the Colombian authorities at the time. The attitude of the US corporate media was significantly worse. As is well known, but not widely publicised by the corporate media, Ronald Coy, Head of Colombia's technical police, admitted to an official investigation both that the data in the laptops had been manipulated before it was subjected to judicial review and that no emails had been found in them (this did not prevent the Guardian's Latin American correspondent, Rory Carroll, from reading several emails from the magical laptops, as he reported at the time).
We shall very soon see how much of Mr Hoyos' "evidence" to the OAS is left standing after Ecuador's expert analysis of the 'magical laptops' takes place. The Venezuelan government has consistently denied any such charges and to this day, apart from regular media repetition of Uribista "false positives," no serious evidence of any kind has been produced to substantiate the allegations that Venezuela harbours guerrillas and guerrilla camps in its territory or that it gives them resources and weapons.
Venezuela and Colombia share 1,375 miles of very porous border. Colombia's internal conflict has the unfortunate dynamic of spilling over into other countries in the form of guerrillas, paramilitaries, drug traffickers, refugees, and immigrants escaping from the conflict (about 5 million Colombians reside permanently in Venezuela). It is estimated that overall, Colombia's military have over 300,000 soldiers -- proportionately one of the largest in the region, and seven times larger than the armed forces of Venezuela -- and have benefited from US$7 bn in military aid -- the second largest in the world -- which are nevertheless incapable to controlling their own domestic terrain in which there are about 8,000 armed guerrilla fighters, many thousands of active illegal paramilitary forces and a great deal of drug trafficking.
Most of the cocaine in the world is produced in Colombia, and most of cocaine production takes place in Colombia, according to UNODOC about 50%. Furthermore, Venezuela finds itself geographically sandwiched between the largest producer and the largest consumer of cocaine in the world, Colombia and the United States respectively.
After Santos' inauguration, events have developed at neck-breaking speed. Assisted by Nestor Kirchner, the Foreign Ministers of Colombia and Venezuela met last Sunday in Bogota, and they announced that Presidents Santos and Chavez would be meeting at a special summit on Tuesday 10 August in Colombia. Chavez immediately seized the opportunity offered by his Colombian counterpart and called upon the guerrillas to seek a political solution: "The Colombian guerrillas do not have a future by way of arms… moreover, they have become an excuse for the [US] empire to intervene in Colombia and threaten Venezuela from there," he said on Sunday. He also called upon them to show their commitment to a peace accord through "decisive demonstrations, for example, that they liberate all those they have kidnapped."
It is clear that Santos wanted to repair relations with Venezuela and Ecuador and that he was willing to accept UNASUR's good offices to facilitate his meeting with President Chavez. However, the most significant aspects of this development is that Santos was determined to seek the improvement of Colombia's relations with Venezuela and Ecuador, partly because it wanted to end Colombia's regional isolation, but also because the almost complete cessation of trade with Venezuela was making Colombia's economy scream (their mutual trade had declined by 73.7%). It is also clear that Uribe knew this and all his last-minute rabid attacks on Venezuela seemed to have been aimed more at Santos than Chavez. Uribe desperately tried to torpedo the Colombo-Venezuelan rapprochement because he knew it was in the offing.
Uribe's desperate efforts mirror the actions of powerful forces in Washington which have been vigorously lobbying to declare Venezuela a "state that sponsors terrorism," "a narco-state" (view which is specially strong in SOUTHCOM and the U.S. Congress -- and which, therefore, seem to favour a 'military' solution to the U.S. 'Venezuelan problem'. SOUTHCOM has been busily installing US military bases everywhere in the region and has even resuscitated the IV Fleet (which was decommissioned in 1950). The U.S. has deployed 20,000 soldiers in Haiti after the earthquake and has also stationed massive military forces in Costa Rica (7,000 soldiers, 200 helicopters and 46 warships until the end of December 2010). Thus, labeling Venezuela a 'sponsor of terrorism' is not just right-wing rhetoric, it may have very serious military consequences. Regional leaders are very alarmed about these developments and have expressed serious concern.
A normally omitted dimension of Colombo-Venezuelan relations is the attitude of Venezuela's right wing. In every Venezuela-Colombia spat under Uribe's two presidential mandates, they have sided enthusiastically with Uribe. They did so again this time but were unwittingly wrong-footed by Santos' announcement. When it comes to opposing President Chavez, Venezuela's right wing seem to have no sense of proportion, thus, for instance, the governor of the state of Tachira, Cesar Perez Vivas, a member of COPEI, went as far as to appeal to Chavez not to make the U.S. military bases in that country a precondition for the normalisation of relations with Colombia. Venezuelan TV broadcaster, Alberto Nolla, suggested that during the crisis unleashed by the Uribe's actions, the Venezuelan right wing media was more strident in their support for Uribe than the Colombian media had been during the same period. Any cursory look at the main right-wing newspapers such as El Universal and El Nacional and TV channels such as Globovision confirm this conclusively.
What is totally unprecedented is the fact that the U.S. administration was de facto reduced to the role of spectator (specialists confirm this). The U.S. were supportive of the accusations against Chavez at the OAS (…"our concerns about the links between Venezuela and the FARC that we have not certified Venezuela in recent years as fully cooperating with the United States and others in terms of these antiterrorism efforts," stated U.S. ambassador to OAS) but were clearly sidelined by UNASUR's brinkmanship which managed to bring the rapprochement between Colombia and Venezuela. It is Santos, Chavez, and UNASUR (especially Brazil) who have been doing the running ("Brazil's government has made it clear that it would like the matter to be taken up within UNASUR, without the influence of the United States. It proclaimed South America a "region of peace" and affirmed that problems between countries should be first dealt with bilaterally.)
This reality shows first the growing assertiveness and independence of the region from U.S. influence, but secondly, it shows that underlying this political reality there is the growing independence of the region from traditional economic centres and a steady distancing from the U.S. The Tectonic plates have dramatically shifted and most Latin American leaders feel they have averted an almost certain Uribe-U.S. driven war.
It remains to be seen how far this summit takes the two countries. They have decided to fully restore their relations in every field and the two presidents have established five commissions within the framework of a statement of principles signed by them. They include a commission for debt; another for the economic collaboration between the two countries; one for the development of a plan of investment in their common border; another for the joint undertaking of infrastructural works; and a security commission. Both heads of state undertook a commitment to collaborate in the struggle against drug trafficking, paramilitary and illegal armed activity. Colombia has sent the President of Colombia's Congress, Armando Benedetti, to assist the process of full restoration of relations between the two countries.
The OAS reacted by applauding the diplomacy of Santos and Chavez. There has been popular rejoice in both countries. Not all the issues pending between the two nations were, however, addressed, such as the U.S. military bases in Colombia, the urgent need for a peace process in Colombia, and the charges leveled by Uribe against Venezuela to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights and against President Chavez personally to the International Criminal Court.
The dogs of war have been kept at bay, at least temporarily. Peace has broken out. The full restoration of relations between Venezuela and Colombia is indeed very positive. However, the array of forces set against the implementation of such a broad peaceful agenda is also pretty formidable. For start it is led by the U.S. and it also involves powerful economic groups in most countries in the region, such as the separatists in the Eastern of Bolivia, that nearly overthrew Morales' government in 2009; the Venezuelan right which managed to actually oust Chavez in 2002 -but who the people returned to power-; the Colombian oligarchy itself; the extremely wealthy and powerful Chilean Pinochetista bourgeoisie; the right in Argentina; the very wealthy Guayaquil entrepreneurs; and so forth. All of whom in one way or another favour the U.S. militarisation of the region as a solution of last resort in the face of radical social movements and progressive governments in the continent. In the meantime the U.S. militarisation of the region continues apace.
It is in the interest of Latin America, very well represented on this historic occasion by UNASUR, to help the Colombian oligarchy to loosen the too uncomfortable U.S. embrace in which Uribe got them into. On the other hand there are the U.S. hegemonic interests in the region and its growing oil dependency from fiercely nationalist governments which are asserting their independence collectively. Washington's political and military strategists must be stunned by the extraordinary rapprochement between Santos and Chavez.
Uribe's insane efforts to bring about a war with Venezuela, underscores the 'predicament' the U.S. finds itself in: faced with the rebellion of its Southern neighbours, unable to win politically, and incapable of offering anything such as development, progress, investment or even the American Way of life (which is crushingly coming to an end in the United States itself), has decided to resort to war to maintain its backyard under subjection. Latin America has opted for democracy, social progress, national sovereignty and peace. On this occasion even the staunchest pro U.S. Colombian oligarchy have sided with the South, not the North. We shall see who beats the other in the historic arm-wrestling underway.
Francisco Dominguez is a member of Executive Committee, Venezuela Information Centre. Read other articles by Francisco, or visit Francisco's website.
by Francisco Dominguez / August 12th, 2010
http://tinyurl.com/28nz6zf
The already bad relations between Venezuela and Colombia took a turn for the worse after the accusations made by the outgoing Uribe government's OAS representative, Luis Hoyos, who charged the Venezuelan government with harbouring Colombian guerrillas (1,500) and allowing guerrilla camps (85) inside its territory. The "evidence" -- which has been pretty discredited -- for this batch of accusations, as with previous ones, also came from the eight 'magical laptops' seized by Colombian military forces in an illegal military attack in March 1, 2009.
Chavez reacted by breaking off relations with Colombia, leading to a further worsening of the relations between the two nations, but sent his foreign minister to attend Santos' inauguration anyway. Uribe's response was to announce that his government was lodging a formal accusation against Venezuela in the Inter-American Committee of Human Rights and another formal charge against President Chavez personally to the International Criminal Court, one day before Juan Manuel Santos inauguration. Furthermore, Uribe, reportedly, announced he would be prepared to testify to the ICC against Hugo Chavez.
However, after intense diplomatic activity undertaken by [Union of South American Nations] UNASUR, Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's Foreign Relations Minister, Nestor Kirchner, UNASUR's President, and Brazils' President, Lula, the latter two very publicly meeting with both Hugo Chavez and Juan Manuel Santos at various separate meetings, managed, in a matter of few days, to turn what looked like an inexorable slide to disaster, into one of the most extraordinary political turnarounds from the brink in recent Latin American history.
At his inauguration, Juan Manuel Santos stunned the world by announcing that his administration would be seeking to repair and normalise Colombia's relations with Venezuela and Ecuador as a matter of priority. And in stark contrast to the prevailing attitude under Uribe, Santos declared "The word war is not in my dictionary when I think about Colombia's relations with its neighbours" (a far cry from Uribe's warmongering). Furthermore, Santos had previously indicated his willingness, under certain conditions, to even talk to the Colombian guerrillas. More surprises were to follow: Santos ordered the handing over of Raul Reyes' 'magical laptops' to the government of Ecuador.
Some in the British media such as the Guardian, the Economist, the BBC and, of course, the ubiquitous Human Rights Watch, enthusiastically accepted the evidence publicised by the Colombian authorities at the time. The attitude of the US corporate media was significantly worse. As is well known, but not widely publicised by the corporate media, Ronald Coy, Head of Colombia's technical police, admitted to an official investigation both that the data in the laptops had been manipulated before it was subjected to judicial review and that no emails had been found in them (this did not prevent the Guardian's Latin American correspondent, Rory Carroll, from reading several emails from the magical laptops, as he reported at the time).
We shall very soon see how much of Mr Hoyos' "evidence" to the OAS is left standing after Ecuador's expert analysis of the 'magical laptops' takes place. The Venezuelan government has consistently denied any such charges and to this day, apart from regular media repetition of Uribista "false positives," no serious evidence of any kind has been produced to substantiate the allegations that Venezuela harbours guerrillas and guerrilla camps in its territory or that it gives them resources and weapons.
Venezuela and Colombia share 1,375 miles of very porous border. Colombia's internal conflict has the unfortunate dynamic of spilling over into other countries in the form of guerrillas, paramilitaries, drug traffickers, refugees, and immigrants escaping from the conflict (about 5 million Colombians reside permanently in Venezuela). It is estimated that overall, Colombia's military have over 300,000 soldiers -- proportionately one of the largest in the region, and seven times larger than the armed forces of Venezuela -- and have benefited from US$7 bn in military aid -- the second largest in the world -- which are nevertheless incapable to controlling their own domestic terrain in which there are about 8,000 armed guerrilla fighters, many thousands of active illegal paramilitary forces and a great deal of drug trafficking.
Most of the cocaine in the world is produced in Colombia, and most of cocaine production takes place in Colombia, according to UNODOC about 50%. Furthermore, Venezuela finds itself geographically sandwiched between the largest producer and the largest consumer of cocaine in the world, Colombia and the United States respectively.
After Santos' inauguration, events have developed at neck-breaking speed. Assisted by Nestor Kirchner, the Foreign Ministers of Colombia and Venezuela met last Sunday in Bogota, and they announced that Presidents Santos and Chavez would be meeting at a special summit on Tuesday 10 August in Colombia. Chavez immediately seized the opportunity offered by his Colombian counterpart and called upon the guerrillas to seek a political solution: "The Colombian guerrillas do not have a future by way of arms… moreover, they have become an excuse for the [US] empire to intervene in Colombia and threaten Venezuela from there," he said on Sunday. He also called upon them to show their commitment to a peace accord through "decisive demonstrations, for example, that they liberate all those they have kidnapped."
It is clear that Santos wanted to repair relations with Venezuela and Ecuador and that he was willing to accept UNASUR's good offices to facilitate his meeting with President Chavez. However, the most significant aspects of this development is that Santos was determined to seek the improvement of Colombia's relations with Venezuela and Ecuador, partly because it wanted to end Colombia's regional isolation, but also because the almost complete cessation of trade with Venezuela was making Colombia's economy scream (their mutual trade had declined by 73.7%). It is also clear that Uribe knew this and all his last-minute rabid attacks on Venezuela seemed to have been aimed more at Santos than Chavez. Uribe desperately tried to torpedo the Colombo-Venezuelan rapprochement because he knew it was in the offing.
Uribe's desperate efforts mirror the actions of powerful forces in Washington which have been vigorously lobbying to declare Venezuela a "state that sponsors terrorism," "a narco-state" (view which is specially strong in SOUTHCOM and the U.S. Congress -- and which, therefore, seem to favour a 'military' solution to the U.S. 'Venezuelan problem'. SOUTHCOM has been busily installing US military bases everywhere in the region and has even resuscitated the IV Fleet (which was decommissioned in 1950). The U.S. has deployed 20,000 soldiers in Haiti after the earthquake and has also stationed massive military forces in Costa Rica (7,000 soldiers, 200 helicopters and 46 warships until the end of December 2010). Thus, labeling Venezuela a 'sponsor of terrorism' is not just right-wing rhetoric, it may have very serious military consequences. Regional leaders are very alarmed about these developments and have expressed serious concern.
A normally omitted dimension of Colombo-Venezuelan relations is the attitude of Venezuela's right wing. In every Venezuela-Colombia spat under Uribe's two presidential mandates, they have sided enthusiastically with Uribe. They did so again this time but were unwittingly wrong-footed by Santos' announcement. When it comes to opposing President Chavez, Venezuela's right wing seem to have no sense of proportion, thus, for instance, the governor of the state of Tachira, Cesar Perez Vivas, a member of COPEI, went as far as to appeal to Chavez not to make the U.S. military bases in that country a precondition for the normalisation of relations with Colombia. Venezuelan TV broadcaster, Alberto Nolla, suggested that during the crisis unleashed by the Uribe's actions, the Venezuelan right wing media was more strident in their support for Uribe than the Colombian media had been during the same period. Any cursory look at the main right-wing newspapers such as El Universal and El Nacional and TV channels such as Globovision confirm this conclusively.
What is totally unprecedented is the fact that the U.S. administration was de facto reduced to the role of spectator (specialists confirm this). The U.S. were supportive of the accusations against Chavez at the OAS (…"our concerns about the links between Venezuela and the FARC that we have not certified Venezuela in recent years as fully cooperating with the United States and others in terms of these antiterrorism efforts," stated U.S. ambassador to OAS) but were clearly sidelined by UNASUR's brinkmanship which managed to bring the rapprochement between Colombia and Venezuela. It is Santos, Chavez, and UNASUR (especially Brazil) who have been doing the running ("Brazil's government has made it clear that it would like the matter to be taken up within UNASUR, without the influence of the United States. It proclaimed South America a "region of peace" and affirmed that problems between countries should be first dealt with bilaterally.)
This reality shows first the growing assertiveness and independence of the region from U.S. influence, but secondly, it shows that underlying this political reality there is the growing independence of the region from traditional economic centres and a steady distancing from the U.S. The Tectonic plates have dramatically shifted and most Latin American leaders feel they have averted an almost certain Uribe-U.S. driven war.
It remains to be seen how far this summit takes the two countries. They have decided to fully restore their relations in every field and the two presidents have established five commissions within the framework of a statement of principles signed by them. They include a commission for debt; another for the economic collaboration between the two countries; one for the development of a plan of investment in their common border; another for the joint undertaking of infrastructural works; and a security commission. Both heads of state undertook a commitment to collaborate in the struggle against drug trafficking, paramilitary and illegal armed activity. Colombia has sent the President of Colombia's Congress, Armando Benedetti, to assist the process of full restoration of relations between the two countries.
The OAS reacted by applauding the diplomacy of Santos and Chavez. There has been popular rejoice in both countries. Not all the issues pending between the two nations were, however, addressed, such as the U.S. military bases in Colombia, the urgent need for a peace process in Colombia, and the charges leveled by Uribe against Venezuela to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights and against President Chavez personally to the International Criminal Court.
The dogs of war have been kept at bay, at least temporarily. Peace has broken out. The full restoration of relations between Venezuela and Colombia is indeed very positive. However, the array of forces set against the implementation of such a broad peaceful agenda is also pretty formidable. For start it is led by the U.S. and it also involves powerful economic groups in most countries in the region, such as the separatists in the Eastern of Bolivia, that nearly overthrew Morales' government in 2009; the Venezuelan right which managed to actually oust Chavez in 2002 -but who the people returned to power-; the Colombian oligarchy itself; the extremely wealthy and powerful Chilean Pinochetista bourgeoisie; the right in Argentina; the very wealthy Guayaquil entrepreneurs; and so forth. All of whom in one way or another favour the U.S. militarisation of the region as a solution of last resort in the face of radical social movements and progressive governments in the continent. In the meantime the U.S. militarisation of the region continues apace.
It is in the interest of Latin America, very well represented on this historic occasion by UNASUR, to help the Colombian oligarchy to loosen the too uncomfortable U.S. embrace in which Uribe got them into. On the other hand there are the U.S. hegemonic interests in the region and its growing oil dependency from fiercely nationalist governments which are asserting their independence collectively. Washington's political and military strategists must be stunned by the extraordinary rapprochement between Santos and Chavez.
Uribe's insane efforts to bring about a war with Venezuela, underscores the 'predicament' the U.S. finds itself in: faced with the rebellion of its Southern neighbours, unable to win politically, and incapable of offering anything such as development, progress, investment or even the American Way of life (which is crushingly coming to an end in the United States itself), has decided to resort to war to maintain its backyard under subjection. Latin America has opted for democracy, social progress, national sovereignty and peace. On this occasion even the staunchest pro U.S. Colombian oligarchy have sided with the South, not the North. We shall see who beats the other in the historic arm-wrestling underway.
Francisco Dominguez is a member of Executive Committee, Venezuela Information Centre. Read other articles by Francisco, or visit Francisco's website.
Venezuela Seeks Peace with Colombia
Chavez to Meet with Santos to Renew Venezuela-Colombia Relations
By James Suggett
http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/5557
Mérida, August 9th 2010 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced on Sunday he will meet with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in Colombia tomorrow with the intention of renewing diplomatic relations and promoting a peace accord to end the decades-old war between the Colombian government and leftist insurgents.
“On Tuesday we will be with the president of Colombia. We are going to initiate a new relationship for the good of both countries, each with their particularities, but with respect,” said Chavez on his weekly Sunday talk show Aló Presidente. “With my two hands extended and with my heart, I show my desire to start over again.”
President Santos, who was sworn-in to his first term as president on Saturday, said he was looking forward to talking one-on-one with Chavez and that he hoped “to arrive at conclusions that help us to normalize relations between the two countries.”
To lay the groundwork for the presidential meeting, Foreign Relations Minister Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and Chancellor María Holguín of Colombia, met for three hours in Bogotá after Maduro attended Santos’s swearing in ceremony on Saturday. Former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, who is the secretary general of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), was also present at the meeting.
After the meeting, Maduro stated Venezuela’s willingness to “extend our brotherly hand and give our love to Colombia,” and “to act transparently to increase our capacities for frank and direct dialogue.” He added, “What is coming for Colombia and Venezuela are positive things.”
Similarly, Holguín said, “Today I think Maduro and I have taken the first step with a frank and direct dialogue with the objective of re-establishing relations, relations marked by transparency and frankness.” Presidents Santos and Chavez will take the second step on Tuesday, she added.
Kirchner congratulated the two foreign ministers for a meeting that was “exemplary, clear, and democratic.” He said, “As someone from Latin America, I am gratified by this example of responsibility by both governments.”
Potential Peace Accord with Insurgents
Also during his Sunday talk show, Chavez reiterated his call for the armed insurgent groups in Colombia to free all of their hostages and pursue a peace accord with the government. He had previously called for this in 2008.
“The Colombian guerrillas do not have a future by way of arms... moreover, they have become an excuse for the [US] empire to intervene in Colombia and threaten Venezuela from there,” Chavez declared on Sunday. He demanded that the guerrillas show their commitment to a peace accord through “decisive demonstrations, for example, that they liberate all those they have kidnapped.”
Santos also indicated an openness to talk with the insurgents. “To the illegally armed groups... I say to them that my government will be open to any talks that seek the end of violence and the building of a more prosperous, equal and just society,” he said.
These declarations followed a pledge on August 4th by the National Liberation Army, one of the principal Colombian rebel groups, to hold multilateral peace talks. “We are willing to talk with the Venezuelan government and other governments on the continent to explore the pathways that may make peace in Colombia and our America possible,” said a statement published on the internet and signed by the group’s first and second in command.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, more than 20,000 people attended a “peace chain” demonstration convoked by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela in Caracas (PSUV). The activists linked arms in a line across western and central Caracas. They called for a peaceful solution to the Colombian civil war and expressed their rejection of US-Colombian military collaboration, which they said is being used as a form of aggression against Venezuela, motivated by Venezuela’s rejection of US militarism and free trade policies in the region.
The Ongoing Bilateral Conflict
The goodwill expressed by the two presidents over the weekend contrasted sharply with the animosity that intensified in recent weeks between Chavez and outgoing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
Chavez severed diplomatic ties on July 22nd after the Uribe administration presented accusations before the Organization of American States (OAS) that Colombian guerrilla groups take shelter and build training camps in Venezuela. The Uribe administration also brought charges against Venezuela in the International Criminal Court, and called for a multi-national team to visit Venezuela to investigate whether or not there were guerrilla insurgents present.
Venezuela said the accusations were aimed at establishing the basis for a future US-backed military intervention in Venezuela. Minister Maduro convened an emergency meeting of foreign ministers of UNASUR, which in contrast to the OAS does not include the US, to help diffuse the conflict.
Now, it is unclear whether Santos, who served as defense minister under Uribe for three years, will continue to pursue Uribe’s strategy, and speculation abounds as to whether the apparent difference in policy between Uribe and Santos in recent weeks was real or orchestrated.
According to José Vicente Rangel, an investigative journalist and former vice president of Venezuela, Santos and his political allies had to struggle to prevent Uribe from attacking an alleged insurgent camp in Venezuelan territory. Rangel presented the report on his weekly political talk show “Los Confidenciales” and cited intelligence reports from within the Venezuelan Armed Forces.
By James Suggett
http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/5557
Mérida, August 9th 2010 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced on Sunday he will meet with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in Colombia tomorrow with the intention of renewing diplomatic relations and promoting a peace accord to end the decades-old war between the Colombian government and leftist insurgents.
“On Tuesday we will be with the president of Colombia. We are going to initiate a new relationship for the good of both countries, each with their particularities, but with respect,” said Chavez on his weekly Sunday talk show Aló Presidente. “With my two hands extended and with my heart, I show my desire to start over again.”
President Santos, who was sworn-in to his first term as president on Saturday, said he was looking forward to talking one-on-one with Chavez and that he hoped “to arrive at conclusions that help us to normalize relations between the two countries.”
To lay the groundwork for the presidential meeting, Foreign Relations Minister Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and Chancellor María Holguín of Colombia, met for three hours in Bogotá after Maduro attended Santos’s swearing in ceremony on Saturday. Former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, who is the secretary general of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), was also present at the meeting.
After the meeting, Maduro stated Venezuela’s willingness to “extend our brotherly hand and give our love to Colombia,” and “to act transparently to increase our capacities for frank and direct dialogue.” He added, “What is coming for Colombia and Venezuela are positive things.”
Similarly, Holguín said, “Today I think Maduro and I have taken the first step with a frank and direct dialogue with the objective of re-establishing relations, relations marked by transparency and frankness.” Presidents Santos and Chavez will take the second step on Tuesday, she added.
Kirchner congratulated the two foreign ministers for a meeting that was “exemplary, clear, and democratic.” He said, “As someone from Latin America, I am gratified by this example of responsibility by both governments.”
Potential Peace Accord with Insurgents
Also during his Sunday talk show, Chavez reiterated his call for the armed insurgent groups in Colombia to free all of their hostages and pursue a peace accord with the government. He had previously called for this in 2008.
“The Colombian guerrillas do not have a future by way of arms... moreover, they have become an excuse for the [US] empire to intervene in Colombia and threaten Venezuela from there,” Chavez declared on Sunday. He demanded that the guerrillas show their commitment to a peace accord through “decisive demonstrations, for example, that they liberate all those they have kidnapped.”
Santos also indicated an openness to talk with the insurgents. “To the illegally armed groups... I say to them that my government will be open to any talks that seek the end of violence and the building of a more prosperous, equal and just society,” he said.
These declarations followed a pledge on August 4th by the National Liberation Army, one of the principal Colombian rebel groups, to hold multilateral peace talks. “We are willing to talk with the Venezuelan government and other governments on the continent to explore the pathways that may make peace in Colombia and our America possible,” said a statement published on the internet and signed by the group’s first and second in command.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, more than 20,000 people attended a “peace chain” demonstration convoked by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela in Caracas (PSUV). The activists linked arms in a line across western and central Caracas. They called for a peaceful solution to the Colombian civil war and expressed their rejection of US-Colombian military collaboration, which they said is being used as a form of aggression against Venezuela, motivated by Venezuela’s rejection of US militarism and free trade policies in the region.
The Ongoing Bilateral Conflict
The goodwill expressed by the two presidents over the weekend contrasted sharply with the animosity that intensified in recent weeks between Chavez and outgoing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
Chavez severed diplomatic ties on July 22nd after the Uribe administration presented accusations before the Organization of American States (OAS) that Colombian guerrilla groups take shelter and build training camps in Venezuela. The Uribe administration also brought charges against Venezuela in the International Criminal Court, and called for a multi-national team to visit Venezuela to investigate whether or not there were guerrilla insurgents present.
Venezuela said the accusations were aimed at establishing the basis for a future US-backed military intervention in Venezuela. Minister Maduro convened an emergency meeting of foreign ministers of UNASUR, which in contrast to the OAS does not include the US, to help diffuse the conflict.
Now, it is unclear whether Santos, who served as defense minister under Uribe for three years, will continue to pursue Uribe’s strategy, and speculation abounds as to whether the apparent difference in policy between Uribe and Santos in recent weeks was real or orchestrated.
According to José Vicente Rangel, an investigative journalist and former vice president of Venezuela, Santos and his political allies had to struggle to prevent Uribe from attacking an alleged insurgent camp in Venezuelan territory. Rangel presented the report on his weekly political talk show “Los Confidenciales” and cited intelligence reports from within the Venezuelan Armed Forces.
Venezuela Forced to Break Relations with Colombia
Dear Friends,
In a desperate attempt to destroy all relations with Venezuela before vacating his position as Colombia's President, Alvaro Uribe made false and libelous accusations of the Chavez government of assisting terrorist training camps, drug trafficking, etc. In response to this aggressive act before the U.S.-supported Organization of American States (OAS), Chavez has broken all diplomatic relations with Colombia, and has requested that provisional president of UNASUR call a meeting to mediate the Venezuelan-Colombian conflict.
______________________________________________
Venezuela Severs Diplomatic Relations with Colombia
By Tamara Pearson
http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/5520
Merida, July 23rd, 2010 -- Following Colombian accusations before the Organisation of American States (OAS) yesterday that Venezuela is "protecting" its guerrillas, Chavez announced that Venezuela would break off diplomatic relations with Colombia and withdraw its ambassador. Venezuelan institutions and international social organisations have expressed their support for Venezuela, while the U.S has supported Colombia's proposal to the OAS.
President Hugo Chavez and various other government leaders have justified the move as defending Venezuela's "dignity" in the face of "constant aggressions and false accusations" by Colombia against Venezuela.
"This government of Mr [Alvaro] Uribe has spent eight years attacking and lying and creating 'false positives' against Venezuela in order to justify the unjustifiable," Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said. Uribe will be replaced by President-elect Juan Manuel Santos on 7 August.
Yesterday afternoon the Venezuelan executive gave its ambassador in Colombia, Gustavo Marquez, and his staff 72 hours to return to Caracas.
Chavez also requested an extraordinary meeting of the political council of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in order to denounce the Colombian government's "aggression".
Maduro supported the call, saying a "South American response to the aggression" was necessary.
In response to Venezuela's request, early this morning Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa who is also provisional president of UNASUR, announced he would call a meeting of the regional organisation in order to mediate the Venezuelan-Colombian conflict.
"The Venezuelan government is concentrating its efforts in the union of South America, in creating ...trade, social, economic and defence based unity of South America," Vice president Elias Jaua said to the press this morning.
Jaua called on the Venezuelan people to "strengthen the union with the Colombian people in order to keep struggling for peace and unity of the continent."
The freezing of relations wouldn't affect food supply in Venezuela, said Jorge Perez, professor of political economy at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), He said that food to be imported for the state food markets of Mercal and Pdval is already being processed to come from other Latin American countries.
Perez explained that ever since the freezing of commercial relations between Venezuela and Colombia last year following Colombia's agreement to install seven U.S bases in its territory, the government has been progressively substituting its imports from Colombian transnationals by signing agreements with countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and China, to import products like meat, milk, cheese, and rice.
Also, both Reuters and the Venezuelan government owned AVN, reported that the situation on the main Venezuela/Colombia border crossings was "normal", with the crossings remaining open and vehicles and people passing through as usual.
Support for the Venezuelan government's actions
YVKE Mundial and AVN report that some Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) workers protested this morning in Caracas in order to show their support for the decision of the government to break diplomatic relations with Colombia.
One of the protestors, Karina Soler, told press, "We're not enemies of the Colombian people, but we declare ourselves fierce enemies of the narco-government of Uribe."
Jaua said the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) was organising a series of mobilisations along the border with Colombia for this weekend. On Saturday afternoon it is planning a mobilisation in Apure, towards the centre of the border, then in Tachira, where the main border crossing is, on Sunday, and on 31 July, heading towards the south, in Amazonas.
Also yesterday a coalition of U.S based human rights, social justice, civil society organisations and the TransAfrica Forum published two letters criticising the outgoing government of Colombia for "continuing a pattern of falsely accusing Venezuela of having links to the insurgent groups FARC and ELN".
The letters were addressed to Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the OAS and the coalition said it will continue collecting signatures and will also submit the letter to UNASUR and to incoming president-elect Santos on the day of his inauguration, 7 August.
Various other Venezuelan public institutions and organisations have also expressed their support for the measures taking by the Venezuelan executive, including the heads of; the National Assembly, the Supreme Court, the National Bolivarian Armed Forces, the Attorney General, the National Electoral Council, the PSUV youth, the National Union of Workers (Unete), the Socialist Front of Petroleum Workers (FSTP), the Electoral Movement of the People (MEP), and the Unionists of Latin American and the Caribbean, who are currently in Venezuela for a continent wide union conference.
Marcela Maspero, national coordinator of Unete, said, "In the face of any attempt by Colombia or any other country, to obstruct the revolution [in Venezuela], the working class will come out bravely to defend the process and the country."
Likewise, Victor Mendibil, from the Unionists of Latin America and the Caribbean and also the Workers Central of Argentina (CTA), said, "Once again the Colombian government is attacking the progressive government of Venezuela and accusing it internationally of having and protecting...Colombian guerrillas. That's not possible, because the government here is a proper one that always acts according to the law."
Further, according to Alfonso Velasquez of the Unified Central of Workers of Colombia (CUT), the Colombian government needs to leave the Venezuelan government alone and "dedicate" itself to providing security for Colombians. "Just last year, over 2,940 union and social leaders in Colombia were killed due to the inefficiency of the government in relation to security," he said.
U.S support for Colombia
Meanwhile, El Universal reports that the U.S has announced that it would support the creation of an international mission to verify if the FARC do have camps in Venezuelan territory, something Colombia requested when it went to the OAS yesterday.
U.S. State department spokesperson Phillip Crowley said he supported Colombia's proposal and such a mission should visit and examine the supposed camps within a month.
"There should be an investigation. We think Venezuela has the responsibility to respond swiftly to the important information presented yesterday by Colombia," he said.
OAS norms state that such a commission can only be formed with the permission of the country involved.
Maduro concluded that the only way diplomatic relations between Venezuela and Colombia could be restored was with "absolute respect and when they cease the political and media aggressions against [Venezuela]."
Venezuela had already suspended bilateral trade ties mid last year to protest the agreement between the U.S and Colombia to install seven U.S military bases in Colombian territory.
Then last week the outgoing Colombian government accused Venezuela of purposefully tolerating the presence of Colombian guerrilla "terrorists" in its territory. Venezuela's initial response was that such accusations were part of a media "defamation" campaign.
In a desperate attempt to destroy all relations with Venezuela before vacating his position as Colombia's President, Alvaro Uribe made false and libelous accusations of the Chavez government of assisting terrorist training camps, drug trafficking, etc. In response to this aggressive act before the U.S.-supported Organization of American States (OAS), Chavez has broken all diplomatic relations with Colombia, and has requested that provisional president of UNASUR call a meeting to mediate the Venezuelan-Colombian conflict.
______________________________________________
Venezuela Severs Diplomatic Relations with Colombia
By Tamara Pearson
http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/5520
Merida, July 23rd, 2010 -- Following Colombian accusations before the Organisation of American States (OAS) yesterday that Venezuela is "protecting" its guerrillas, Chavez announced that Venezuela would break off diplomatic relations with Colombia and withdraw its ambassador. Venezuelan institutions and international social organisations have expressed their support for Venezuela, while the U.S has supported Colombia's proposal to the OAS.
President Hugo Chavez and various other government leaders have justified the move as defending Venezuela's "dignity" in the face of "constant aggressions and false accusations" by Colombia against Venezuela.
"This government of Mr [Alvaro] Uribe has spent eight years attacking and lying and creating 'false positives' against Venezuela in order to justify the unjustifiable," Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said. Uribe will be replaced by President-elect Juan Manuel Santos on 7 August.
Yesterday afternoon the Venezuelan executive gave its ambassador in Colombia, Gustavo Marquez, and his staff 72 hours to return to Caracas.
Chavez also requested an extraordinary meeting of the political council of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in order to denounce the Colombian government's "aggression".
Maduro supported the call, saying a "South American response to the aggression" was necessary.
In response to Venezuela's request, early this morning Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa who is also provisional president of UNASUR, announced he would call a meeting of the regional organisation in order to mediate the Venezuelan-Colombian conflict.
"The Venezuelan government is concentrating its efforts in the union of South America, in creating ...trade, social, economic and defence based unity of South America," Vice president Elias Jaua said to the press this morning.
Jaua called on the Venezuelan people to "strengthen the union with the Colombian people in order to keep struggling for peace and unity of the continent."
The freezing of relations wouldn't affect food supply in Venezuela, said Jorge Perez, professor of political economy at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), He said that food to be imported for the state food markets of Mercal and Pdval is already being processed to come from other Latin American countries.
Perez explained that ever since the freezing of commercial relations between Venezuela and Colombia last year following Colombia's agreement to install seven U.S bases in its territory, the government has been progressively substituting its imports from Colombian transnationals by signing agreements with countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and China, to import products like meat, milk, cheese, and rice.
Also, both Reuters and the Venezuelan government owned AVN, reported that the situation on the main Venezuela/Colombia border crossings was "normal", with the crossings remaining open and vehicles and people passing through as usual.
Support for the Venezuelan government's actions
YVKE Mundial and AVN report that some Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) workers protested this morning in Caracas in order to show their support for the decision of the government to break diplomatic relations with Colombia.
One of the protestors, Karina Soler, told press, "We're not enemies of the Colombian people, but we declare ourselves fierce enemies of the narco-government of Uribe."
Jaua said the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) was organising a series of mobilisations along the border with Colombia for this weekend. On Saturday afternoon it is planning a mobilisation in Apure, towards the centre of the border, then in Tachira, where the main border crossing is, on Sunday, and on 31 July, heading towards the south, in Amazonas.
Also yesterday a coalition of U.S based human rights, social justice, civil society organisations and the TransAfrica Forum published two letters criticising the outgoing government of Colombia for "continuing a pattern of falsely accusing Venezuela of having links to the insurgent groups FARC and ELN".
The letters were addressed to Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the OAS and the coalition said it will continue collecting signatures and will also submit the letter to UNASUR and to incoming president-elect Santos on the day of his inauguration, 7 August.
Various other Venezuelan public institutions and organisations have also expressed their support for the measures taking by the Venezuelan executive, including the heads of; the National Assembly, the Supreme Court, the National Bolivarian Armed Forces, the Attorney General, the National Electoral Council, the PSUV youth, the National Union of Workers (Unete), the Socialist Front of Petroleum Workers (FSTP), the Electoral Movement of the People (MEP), and the Unionists of Latin American and the Caribbean, who are currently in Venezuela for a continent wide union conference.
Marcela Maspero, national coordinator of Unete, said, "In the face of any attempt by Colombia or any other country, to obstruct the revolution [in Venezuela], the working class will come out bravely to defend the process and the country."
Likewise, Victor Mendibil, from the Unionists of Latin America and the Caribbean and also the Workers Central of Argentina (CTA), said, "Once again the Colombian government is attacking the progressive government of Venezuela and accusing it internationally of having and protecting...Colombian guerrillas. That's not possible, because the government here is a proper one that always acts according to the law."
Further, according to Alfonso Velasquez of the Unified Central of Workers of Colombia (CUT), the Colombian government needs to leave the Venezuelan government alone and "dedicate" itself to providing security for Colombians. "Just last year, over 2,940 union and social leaders in Colombia were killed due to the inefficiency of the government in relation to security," he said.
U.S support for Colombia
Meanwhile, El Universal reports that the U.S has announced that it would support the creation of an international mission to verify if the FARC do have camps in Venezuelan territory, something Colombia requested when it went to the OAS yesterday.
U.S. State department spokesperson Phillip Crowley said he supported Colombia's proposal and such a mission should visit and examine the supposed camps within a month.
"There should be an investigation. We think Venezuela has the responsibility to respond swiftly to the important information presented yesterday by Colombia," he said.
OAS norms state that such a commission can only be formed with the permission of the country involved.
Maduro concluded that the only way diplomatic relations between Venezuela and Colombia could be restored was with "absolute respect and when they cease the political and media aggressions against [Venezuela]."
Venezuela had already suspended bilateral trade ties mid last year to protest the agreement between the U.S and Colombia to install seven U.S military bases in Colombian territory.
Then last week the outgoing Colombian government accused Venezuela of purposefully tolerating the presence of Colombian guerrilla "terrorists" in its territory. Venezuela's initial response was that such accusations were part of a media "defamation" campaign.
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