Venezuela's Chavez's Connections To FARC And The ETA Being Exposed

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez Allegedly Helped Colombian, Spanish Militants Forge Ties -- Washington Post

MACHIQUES, VENEZUELA -- For two years, Colombian officials have accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez of providing arms and sanctuary to Marxist rebels intent on toppling Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, Washington's closest ally in a turbulent region.

Now, based on documents and witness testimony, Chávez is facing fresh accusations that his government has gone well beyond assisting the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Documents seized from two subversive groups, along with information provided by former Colombian guerrillas, suggest that Venezuela facilitated training sessions here between the FARC and ETA, a separatist group in Spain that uses assassinations and bombings in its effort to win independence for the northern Basque region.

Read more ....

My Comment: No surprise that Chavez decided not to go to Spain for last week's EU-Latin American summit.

The Heritage Foundation has more on Chavez's connections to terror groups.

"The FARC in Transition: The Fatal Weakening of the Hemisphere's Oldest Guerrilla Movement"

In this Monday, June 23, 2008, file photo, one of seven rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, who surrendered to the Army, stands with his face covered at a military base in Cali, Colombia.

From Counter Terrorism Blog:

Today the NEFA Foundation published a paper I wrote on the overall weakening of the FARC in Colombia and the likely options for its future development.

The new paper, "The FARC in Transition: The Fatal Weakening of the Hemisphere's Oldest Guerrilla Movement," is a followup to one I did analyzing the publicly released documents taken from the computer of the FARC's second in command, Raul Reyes, killed by Colombian troops in raid into neighboring Ecuador.

The paper posits that in the near term, the new FARC leadership-for the first time in its 44-year history dominated by urban, educated leaders rather than peasants lacking formal education-will try to launch a major military strike in order to prove its legitimacy to the rank and file.

Read more ....

More News on FARC And Colombia:
Rebels desert as Colombia army advances -- Yahoo News
Rebels Desert as Colombia Army Advances -- ABC News
Colombian military advances spur rebel desertions -- Daily News
European mediators seek out Colombia rebels-source -- Reuters
Building peace -- Financial Times

My Comment: The survivors of FARC will probably end up going into the drug trade. This guerilla movement is dead for now.

Hugo Chavez Faces Political Crisis As Allies Desert Him

Hugo Chavez Of Venezuela

From The Telegraph:

President Hugo Chavez, the "socialist revolutionary" leading a global campaign against America's "empire", is facing a political crisis in Venezuela where crucial elections are approaching and old allies have turned against him.

Mr Chavez, a devoted admirer of Fidel Castro, has forged an anti-American front with leaders ranging from President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran.

At home, however, Mr Chavez is in trouble. State elections are due in November and Venezuela's opposition, which now includes former followers of South America's standard-bearer for socialism, is expected to perform well.

Read more ....

My Comment: When historians look at Chavez in the future they will see a man who came to power to not only satisfy his own ego of becoming the leader of Venezuela, but they will also see a man whose goal was to help the poor of Venezuela. But even with having oil deposits that at todays prices are worth approximately 10 trillion dollars, his report card is mixed on his attempt to provide the goods and services to Venezuela's poor.

Even though he has been given this golden opportunity by the people of Venezuela, after 10 years of rule the future does not look bright. The oil industry .... like Iran's .... functions because of the technology and infrastructure that was placed there by previous multinational oil companies. No investment, no upgrading, no use of new technologies .... has resulted with Venezuela (and Iran's) experiencing a decline in it's production and output. If there is a price drop in oil .... which probably will occur sooner than what people think .... this will have a devastating effect on Venezuela.

Inflation .... an economic condition that always hurts the poor the worse, is now present in double digits. Poverty and unemployment is now rising. Price controls have also had their predictable impact .... a shortage of the basic commodities on grocery shelves.

Closing down TV stations, muzzling the free press, throwing union leaders into jail .... limiting people's freedom, these actions also always lead to suffering and hardship for all.

Hugo Chavez will try his best to stay in power .... and like most tyrants who control the state apparatus he will probably succeed. But after 10 years in power there are many others who now want to rule. They are not going to make his job easy.

Will this destabilize the region .... the answer is yes. Will Venezuela's problems impact other countries .... the answer to this question is also yes. Countries like Ecuador, Nicaragua, Cuba, Bolivia .... they are now dependent on Venezuela's handouts. If these handouts stop .... it will destabilize everyone.

Colombia: Pinned Down In Their Jungle Lairs, Wounded Farc Face Long War's End

Members of the guerrilla group Farc on parade in a rebel-held zone in Colombia.
Photograph: Scott Dalton/AP

From The Guardian:

The helicopter headed west, rotors scything the air, towards the border with Colombia and a setting sun. The jungle canopy below was so thick that even at treetop level it was impossible to see what, or who, might be on the ground.

The Venezuelan Mil Mi-35 combat transport helicopter was like a steel sauna and when it touched down in a clearing the crew quickly opened the doors. It made no difference. The air outside was hot and sticky. While other helicopters flew overhead, soldiers from the 12th Infantry Brigade fanned out into the trees, assault rifles at the ready, to reclaim a patch of Venezuela.

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My Comment: 30 years of conflict, 200,000 dead and more, families destroyed, future generations gone .... and for what?

Foreigners' Ties To Colombian Rebels Probed

From MSNBC:

BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombia’s chief prosecutor opened preliminary investigations Thursday into contacts that prominent politicians, journalists and foreigners — including a U.S. consultant — have had with leftist rebels.

The prosecutor, Mario Iguaran, also asked the Supreme Court to probe three opposition lawmakers including Sen. Piedad Cordoba, who helped Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez broker the recent release of six rebel hostages. Only the court has the authority to investigate and try Colombian legislators.

Read more ....

News Reports From Other Sources

Report on FARC files is met with a resounding silence -- Salt Lake Tribune
Colombia probes 'links with Farc' -- BBC
MEDIA IGNORES Rep. McGovern (D-Mass) Was Secretly Working With FARC To Undermine Colombian Government -- Gateway Pundit
Colombia probes 12 for alleged FARC ties -- Miami Herald
A View From the Other Side -- Spinning the News - The FARC-EP Files, Venezuela and Interpol: Atlantic Free Press

My Comment: When researching for this post I found it amusing that a number of bloggers and other fellow travellers openly support FARC. The language and spin that they use reminds so much of the same language and spin that is often used when defending the Castro dictatorship of Cuba.

When I see Liberals defending dictatorships or violent "liberation" movements ....the look that I receive is always priceless. To defend the indefensible is always a sight to see.

Wars And Conflicts In Latin America -- May 20, 2008

Venezuela and Colombia at a standoff over possible border incursion -- International Herald Tribune
US 'violated Venezuela airspace' -- BBC News
U.S. Navy aircraft violates Venezuela's airspace -- Reuters
MEDIA IGNORES Rep. McGovern (D-Mass) Was Secretly Working With FARC To Undermine Colombian Government -- Gateway Pundit
Leading Farc Commander Surrenders -- BBC News
Starving FARC Leader Surrenders in Colombia-- Responsible For Murder of President Uribe's Father -- Gateway Pundit
Drug lords go after Mexican police -- MSNBC
Drug Cartels to Mexican Police: 'Join Us or Die' -- Rantburg
New phase seen in Mexico's drug war -- LA Times

My Comment: Venezuela is clearly in one of its phases of saying anything as long as it can rile the people up .... or at least some of them. Colombia is clearly making head way in its war with Farc. Mexico needs to control their narco-gangs, but with so much money involved we should not expect success.

Venezuela's Chavez Tried To Arm FARC With Help From Belarus

From Gateway Pundit:

The computers captured by Colombian forces at the campsite of Raul Reyes in Ecuador contained damning information on the FARC terror organization and its sympathizers.

FARC's number two leader Raul Reyes was killed in March by Colombian forces. (LePoint)

Hugo Chavez tried to arm FARC with help from Belarus according to information discovered on captured computer of rebel leader Raul Reyes. And... Victor Sheiman the secretary of the Belarus Security Council and a close associate of Alexander Lukashenko was involved in these negotiations.

Read more ....

Update: Documents Indicate That Chavez Helped Colombia Rebels -- Yahoo News

Update: Chavez Denies Charges Of Ties To Colombia Rebels -- Reuters

My Comment: A lot of thinking, planning, discussion, implementation ..... Venezuela has made the decision to actively support arm groups in Colombia and is also probably assisting a number of other conflicts that we are not aware of. Question ..... why is Chavez so eager for war?