Venezuela Ready for War vs Colombia

Above: Hugo Chavez

Yesterday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (pictured above) sent a battalion to the Colombian border. He’s ready to go to war it seems after Colombia went after Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) leader Raul Reyes (pictured below). Reyes and 16 other militants were killed by Colombian forces in Ecuador. Colombia sent their air force to bomb the rebel base. Afterwards, troops went in for the kill.

Below: Raul Reyes

“Mr. Defense Minister, move me 10 battalions to the border with Colombia immediately - tank battalions,” President Chavez said on his weekly TV show Alo Presidente. The Venezuelan Air Force is also on standby.

Although he also said that he did not want war, he firmly believes that recent Colombian action against the FARC leader was “a cowardly murder, coldly prepared in its entirety” — and the territorial incursion of Ecuador should not be left unanswered:

“I am putting Venezuela on alert and we will support Ecuador in any situation.”

He called Colombian President Alvaro Uribe a puppet of the United States. (below is a picture of him with United States president George W. Bush) “Dracula’s fangs are covered in blood,” he said referring to his neighboring president. Colombia’s actions against FARC have been funded through billions of dollars from the United States.

Below: Uribe & Bush

FARC is listed as a terrorist group by the US and the EU. In my last entry, I stressed the mutual dislike of the two presidents — brought about more recently by the FARC issue. Just a few days ago, FARC hostages were released into the Venezuelan president’s custody. Uribe was thankful for the effort, but we see now that there is an underlying suspicion in the gesture.

In a statement released to the press, the Colombian government said that their troops were in pursuit of the militants and added that “Colombia has not violated any sovereignty, only acted in accordance with the principal of legitimate defense.”

But according to Ecuador’s investigations, Colombia sent planes to bomb the base as they slept. Afterwards Colombian troops went in to retrieve Reyes’ body.

Colombia is frustrated over the fact that the FARC are treated as allies in the neighboring countries.

“The terrorists, among them Raul Reyes, were used to killing in Colombia and invading the neighboring countries to hide. Many times Colombia has suffered these situations, which we are obliged to avoid to defend our citizens.”

It is no secret that the FARC has shown a liking for the Venezuelan leader and yesterday Chavez returned the favor:

“Some day Colombia will be freed from the hand of the (United States) empire,” he said showing support to the efforts and ideals of the FARC. “We have to liberate Colombia.”

President Rafael Correa of Ecuador called the recent action “scandalous” and immediately ordered the closure of his embassy in Bogota, Colombia. President Correa, very much the opposite of Uribe, is also a known ally of Chavez. The Venezuelan embassy has also departed their office in Bogota.

“We will not permit this outrage,” said the Ecuadorean president. “Either President Uribe was misinformed and will have to sanction his commanders who deceived him, breaking every international bilateral proceeding by entering our territory or Uribe simply lied. In either case, the situation is extremely grave and the Ecuadoran government is disposed to go to the ultimate consequences.”

“President Uribe, think well,” said the Venezuelan president. Don’t think about doing that over here, don’t think it. Because it would very serious, a military raid in Venezuelan territory would be casus belli [cause for war]. There is not any excuse.”

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