"Thank you for this great post"
Arise and Shine
RE: Russia Venezuela Cuba Ready To Invade USA
I had been warning for 2 years now, that the NWO plan is to destroy USA sovereignty by making hostilities around the globe and inviting Russia China Cuba Venezuela and NORTHCOM Canada Mexico to come in and round up Americans like you - not being a fearmonger, but time is running out
August 19, 2008 - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez went on national television to assert that the 9/11 attacks on the United States may have been a self-inflicted wound
Russia, Venezuela seek closer cooperation - Oil and scary amount of weapons sales - July 23, 2008
Fex News - Russia could base nuclear bombers in Cuba July 23, 2008
Russia plans to deploy NUCLEAR BOMBERS in Cuba to counter US missile shield plans in Eastern Europe July 22, 2008
Can you blame them? US Navy re-establishes fleet for Caribbean, Lat...
Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez (R), gestures at Manuel Rios air base in Guarico, southeast of Caracas, on August 17, 2008.The White House said Monday that Chavez's invitation to host a Russian fleet was "curious" and accused him of neglecting his people's problems
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US: Venezuela's Russia fleet invite is 'curious'
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AFP News
Mon Aug 18, 12:35 PM ET
http://news. yahoo. com/s/afp/20080818/pl_afp/venezuelarussiamilita...
CRAWFORD, Texas (AFP) - The White House said Monday that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's invitation to host a Russian fleet was "curious" and accused him of neglecting his people's problems
"The Russians and the Venezuelans can engage in whatever cooperation that they would like.But it's curious, I'm not sure what Venezuela needs or gains by a visit by the Russian fleet," said spokesman Gordon Johndroe
"You would think that President Chavez would concentrate more on the problems that the people of Venezuela are having rather than inviting the fleet in for a port call," he said, adding that he could not confirm the invitation
Chavez said during his weekly radio program on Sunday that Russian President Dmitri Medvedev wanted to send a Russian naval fleet to visit Venezuela
"I told the president (Medvedev), 'If you're coming to the Caribbean, we'll welcome you,'" Chavez said, adding that the Russian naval fleet would pay "a friendly and working" visit to Venezuela
Under the leftist Chavez, Venezuela has been seeking closer relations with Moscow, in part to buy military hardware, including 24 Russian Sukhoi fighter jets recently delivered, after Washington refused to supply spare parts for the F-16 jets it sold Venezuela in the 1980s
Over the past few years, Venezuela and Russia have signed 4.0 billion dollars' worth of arms deals, including AK-47 automatic rifles and military helicopters
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Russia wants to send naval fleet to Venezuela: Chavez
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The Economic Times
18 Aug, 2008
http://economictimes. indiatimes. com/News/PoliticsNation/Russia_wa...
CARACAS: President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday that Russian President Dimitri Medvedev wants to send a Russian naval fleet to visit Venezuela
"Russia has informed us they intend to visit Venezuela, that is, the intention that a Russian fleet should come to the Caribbean," Chavez said on his weekly radio program
"I told the president (Medvedev), 'If you're coming to the Caribbean, we'll welcome you,'" Chavez said, adding that the Russian naval fleet would pay "a friendly and working" visit to Venezuela
Under leftist President Chavez, Venezuela has been seeking closer relations with Moscow, in part to buy military hardware, including 24 Russian Sukhoi fighter jets recently delivered, after Washington refused to supply spare parts for the F-16 jets it sold Venezuela in the 1980s
Over the past few years, Venezuela and Russia have signed 4.0 billion dollars' worth of arms deals, including AK-47 automatic rifles and military helicopters
"We very much need them here," Chavez said of the Russian weapons."We've got the helicopters, the Sukoi fighters and we're now considering buying some Russian submarines to patrol our territorial waters," Chavez said
Chavez on Sunday also repeated his support for Moscow in its conflict over Georgia's separatist territory of South Ossetia, and called Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili "a puppet of the United States"
Flashback: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (R) visits AK factory in Russia July 26, 2006 - Venezuela received 100,000 units of AK-103's
Venezuela President Hugo Chavez visits Russia - July 23, 2008 Russia Today
Venezuela's massive weapons purchase in Russia - July 22, 2008
Hugo Chavez stockpiles Russia China weapons with oil money - July 23, 2008
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Chavez warns US after getting Russian warplanes
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RIA Novosti
08/04/2008
http://en. rian. ru/world/20080804/115619889. html
MOSCOW, August 4 (RIA Novosti) - President Hugo Chavez said Venezuela had taken delivery of 24 Russian Sukhoi fighter jets, and warned the US Fourth Fleet that his country is ready to defend itself
"We've received the 24 Sukhoi aircraft," he said Sunday."They're for defensive purposes; we're not going to attack anybody"
The deal included training for pilots and crews, as well as missiles for the fighters
Chavez said the Sukhoi missiles have far greater range than those of the US F-16 fighter jet, and warned the US Fourth Fleet to keep out of Venezuelan waters
"Any gringo ship that sails into brown waters [river waters] will itself turn brown and go to the bottom, because they'll not get through," he said
The jets are part of a recent $4 billion deal with Moscow, including tanks, transport planes, air-defense systems and AK assault rifles
In 2005-2006, Venezuela signed a deal to buy more than 50 combat helicopters, 24 Su-30MK2 fighters, 12 Tor-M1 air defense missile systems and 100,000 AK-103 rifles from Russia
Chavez, an outspoken critic of Washington since coming to power nine years ago, has focused his foreign policy on bolstering ties with countries outside the US sphere of influence
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Putin wants closer military ties with Venezuela
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RIA Novosti
22/ 07/ 2008
http://en. rian. ru/russia/20080722/114656330. html
NOVO-OGARYOVO, July 22 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday that he hopes military ties between the countries will strengthen
Chavez, who is currently on an official visit to Russia, discussed political, economic and defense cooperation with the premier at Putin's residence near Moscow
"We have recently been strengthening the legal base for our cooperation, searching for ways to diversify our relations through new cooperation areas, namely transport, space, high-tech production, and of course military and technical cooperation," Putin said
During the meeting, Putin accepted an invitation from Chavez to visit Venezuela
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met with Chavez earlier in the day for talks focusing on arms and energy deals
On arriving in Moscow, Chavez called for Russia and Venezuela to become strategic partners in oil and defense, something he said would "guarantee Venezuela's sovereignty, which is currently being threatened by the United States"
Venezuela has bought over 50 combat helicopters, 24 Su-30MK2 fighters, and 100,000 AK-103 rifles from Russia, and also holds a license for their production.The current contracts are worth about $4 billion
Moscow plans to start supplying Venezuela with at least ten Mi-28N helicopters in the second half of 2009
The two countries have also negotiated the delivery of three Russian Project 636 Kilo-class diesel submarines and at least 20 Tor-M1 air defense missile systems to Caracas.Contracts for these two deals, if signed, may be worth another $1 billion
In line with the state program for the modernization of the armed forces until 2012, Venezuela is planning to spend about $30 billion in the next four years on the purchase of weaponry abroad
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Russia, Cuba set to boost ties
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RIA Novosti
08/01/2008
http://en. rian. ru/russia/20080801/115487270. html
MOSCOW, August 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and Cuba are to make efforts to boost bilateral cooperation in all spheres, the Russian Security Council said on Friday
Council chief Nikolai Patrushev and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin visited Cuba on July 30-31, in a trip focusing on projects to revive economic ties between the former Cold War allies, including Russian companies' participation in developing oil fields in the Latin American state
"[Cuban President] Raul Castro, Patrushev and Sechin said at a meeting that their countries' were set to make consistent efforts to restore longtime ties in all spheres of cooperation and to expand and strengthen them," the Security Council said in a statement
Sechin earlier cited oil production, tourism, healthcare, nickel production, telecommunications and nanotechnology as the most promising spheres for cooperation between the two countries
Russia issued a $355 million loan for the purchase of vehicles and the financing of energy infrastructure in Cuba in 2006, reviving ties that had been weakened by the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991
Havana also committed itself to buying three Il-96-300 planes and three Tu-204 passenger medium-haul aircraft
The visit of Patrushev and Sechin came after media reports said Russia could place an orbital ballistic missile system in Cuba in response to US missile defense plans for Central Europe
In October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the US and the USS.R.to the brink of war when Soviet missiles were stationed in Cuba
The crisis was resolved after 12 days when the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, backed down and ordered the missiles removed
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Ecuador says U.S must leave Manta air base
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It's American military's only South American outpost for anti-drug flights
Associated Press
July 29, 2008
http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/25922554/
QUITO, Ecuador - The US military must stop using its only outpost in South America for anti-drug flights when Washington's 10-year lease on the base in Ecuador expires in 2009, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday
Leftist President Rafael Correa has repeatedly said that Ecuador would not renew the agreement to use the Manta air base, but Tuesday's Foreign Ministry statement said the South American nation has now formally notified the US Embassy of the decision
Some 300 US soldiers are stationed at the Pacific base and flights from Manta are responsible for about 60 percent of US drug interdiction in the eastern Pacific
The statement said that surveillance flights will end in August 2009 "and the withdrawal of foreign personnel from the Ecuadorean Air Force base in Manta will end in November of that year"
The United States and Ecuador signed the 10-year agreement in Nov.12, 1999
US military officials have said that Washington is not planning to set up an alternative to the base in either neighboring Colombia or Peru.The US government has previously said it will respect Ecuador's decision
A draft constitution backed by Correa that was recently approved by a special assembly, abolishes any foreign military bases on Ecuadorean soil.The draft charter must still be approved by voters in a referendum
Ecuador produces very little cocaine, but is often used as a transit country for drugs sent from Colombia and Peru to the United States
Members of the Venezuelan National Guard receive instruction in San Antonio, in the Tachira state of Colombia. President Hugo Chavez ordered "10 battallions" of troops, about 9,000 soldiers, to the border it shares with Colombia. Chavez deployed troops in response to Colombia's killing of a top rebel leader on Ecuadorean soil over the weekend. Ecuador has also sent troops to its border with Colombia, denouncing the military strike as a violation of its sovereignty.
Venezuela's military currently has about 100,000 regular troops and a growing force of reservists that now totals 280,000, said Retired Gen. Alberto Muller Rojas, who in retirement is vice president of Chavez's socialist party.
Soldiers use a military vehicle to set a patrol boat into the San Miguel river on the border of Colombia and Ecuador. Colombian president Alvaro Uribe accused Chavez of backing genocide and said he would denounce him in international court.
A Venezuelan Army light armored car stands in position on a main street in Mojan, in the state of Moaracaibo in Venezuela.
Ecuadorian soldiers unload two corpses of FARC rebels from a helicopter. The rebels were killed in Ecuador's Angostura jungle camp by a Colombian strike. Ecuador has severed diplomatic ties with Colombia and Venezuela.
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'WAR HAS BEGUN,' SAYS VENEZUELA
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Associated Press
By TOBY MUSE
http://www. nypost. com/seven/03052008/news/worldnews/war_has_begun...
March 5, 2008 -- CUCUTA, Colombia - Venezuela and Ecuador reinforced their borders with Colombia yesterday as the three nations traded increasingly bitter accusations over Colombia's cross-border strike on a leftist guerrilla base in Ecuador.
Rejecting a Colombian apology as insufficient, Ecuador sought international condemnation of the attack during an emergency meeting of the Organization of American States, convened in Washington to help defuse one of South America's most volatile crises in years.
Venezuela's justice minister declared that war "has already begun."
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa called his Colombian counterpart, Alvaro Uribe, a "baldfaced liar."
Uribe demanded the International Criminal Court try Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for genocide.
President Bush accused Chavez of "provocative maneuvers."
Colombia said documents found at the base showed rebels wanted to make a radioactive dirty bomb.
But the documents it shared with reporters didn't support the allegation, indicating instead that the rebels were trying to buy uranium to resell at a profit.
Uribe said Chavez should be prosecuted for allegedly financing the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
Uribe cited documents in a laptop seized in Reyes' jungle camp that he said showed Venezuela made a $300 million payment to the rebels.
Both Venezuela and Ecuador dismissed all the allegations as lies.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said the idea of trying Chavez was "laughable."
At the moment, it's mostly a war of words, and other nations tried yesterday to keep it that way, although many said Colombia was wrong to send troops into Ecuador.
The Saturday raid killed 24 guerrillas, including rebel spokesman Raul Reyes, who was engaged in hostage talks with Venezuela, France and other countries.
Venezuela kicked out US big oil companies Exxon Mobil and Conoco Philips last year, dropping the US dollar peg, and is now threatening to cut off US from its vast oil reserve, of course US would back a war to destroy Venezuela, by assisting the US puppet cocaine mafia government in Colombia. Venezuela is the 4th largest oil exporter to US, imagine US gets cut off from its oil supply. Not only that, Russia had licensed Venezuela to open 2 factories to manufacture AK Kalashnikov Automatic Rifles.
Any of this build up happened by accident?
....
Chavez Threatens US Oil Cutoff
Venezuela's socialist Central Asia gearing up to fight US imperialism
Venezuela purchased 100,000 AK Assault Rifles from Russia - deliver...
Chavez calls for anti-US alliance
Chavez – Colombia is US’ ISRAEL in Latin America and must be dealt ...
2007 - Russia, Venezuela in talks on 636 Kilo-class submarines, 24 ...
Russia Venezuela - Good buddies in giant arms and energy deals
Russia to build 2 Kalashnikov factories in Venezuela by 2010
Hugo Chavez Threatens US Oil Cutoff
Mar. 3 - Tensions continue to build between Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador after Colombia's attack on a leftist rebel camp in Ecuador. The crisis erupted when Colombia flew troops into Ecuador in a bombing raid that killed a leading guerrilla commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Mar. 3 - Ecuador and Venezuela have sent troops to their borders with Colombia in a growing confrontation with their Andean neighbour. The crisis started when Colombian troops staged a raid into Ecuadorian territory, killing a top commander from the rebel Colombian FARC movement. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has threatened that any such move into his country could escalate into war.
Bush backs his cocaine mafia buddies in Colombia - Mar. 4 - Standing on the South Lawn of the White House, President Bush said, "America fully supports Colombia's democracy and that we firmly oppose any acts of aggression that could destabilize the region." The President said, "I spoke to President Uribe of Colombia. He updated me on the situation in his country, including the continuing assault by narco-terrorists, as well as the provocative maneuvers by the regime in Venezuela." President Bush also called on the U.S. Congress to approve a free trade agreement with Colombia.
Colombia hostage deal 'ruined' - Mar. 4 - Ecuador says Colombia's military raid into its territory has ruined negotiations to free 12 hostages held by FARC. Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa says his government had been close to securing a deal with FARC rebels to free the hostages, who include French-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt. Correa was responding to accusations by Colombia that his government had ties to the rebels.
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Bush assails Chavez, backs Colombia in standoff
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Reuters
Tue Mar 4, 2008
By Matt Spetalnick
WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's government of "provocative maneuvers" against Colombia and vowed to oppose any act of aggression in the Andean region.
"I told him that America would continue to stand with Colombia as it confronts violence and terror and fights drug traffickers," Bush told reporters after a phone call with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
Bush was quick to single out Chavez, a strident anti-U.S. critic, as a culprit in a crisis that has engulfed the Andean region after a raid by Colombian troops into Ecuador on Saturday that killed a top commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC.
Ecuador and Venezuela have responded by cutting diplomatic ties with Colombia, a close U.S. ally, and ordering troops to their neighbor's borders.
Uribe has accused Chavez and his ally Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa of supporting the FARC. The group is seen as a terrorist group by Uribe's government and the United States.
Bush said Uribe had updated him on the situation, "including the continuing assault by narco-terrorists as well as the provocative maneuvers by the regime in Venezuela."
"I told the president that America fully supports Colombia's democracy and that we firmly oppose any act of aggression that could destabilize the region," he added.
Bush urged Republican and Democratic lawmakers to put aside differences over a free trade agreement with Colombia and approve the pact in a show of support for Bogota.
"If we fail to approve this agreement, we will let down a close ally. We will damage our credibility in the region and we will embolden the demagogues in our hemisphere," Bush said.
The crisis has reflected a sharp political divide in South America, where Uribe, who has strong U.S. financial and military backing, is opposed by leftists led by Chavez who fiercely reject what they brand U.S. "imperialism".
Chavez, who has called for a socialist revolution in Latin America to counter U.S. influence, has regularly hurled insults at Bush in recent years and once called him the "devil" in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly.(Additional reporting by Doug Palmer, Editing by Frances Kerry)
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Brazil condemns Colombia's Ecuador raid
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Reuters
Tue 4 Mar 2008
By Raymond Colitt
BRASILIA, March 3 (Reuters) - Brazil's foreign minister on Monday condemned a Colombian military strike on rebels inside Ecuador and called on Bogota to offer an explicit apology.
"The territorial violation is very serious and needs to be condemned," Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said in Brasilia. "Brazil condemns any territorial violation."
Amorim also said the Colombian government should offer an "explicit" apology to contain the growing crisis prompted by the weekend raid, in which Colombian forces struck at a FARC rebel camp inside Ecuador.
He called for the Organization of American States (OAS) regional body to set up a committee to investigate the circumstances of the attack, which included air strikes and ground combat. Senior FARC leader Raul Reyes was killed.
The incident has flared into the most dangerous dispute in Latin America for years. Venezuela and Ecuador sent troops to their borders with Colombia on Sunday and downgraded diplomatic ties.
"A more explicit apology to Ecuador for the territorial violation would help contain the crisis," said Amorim, whose country is a regional diplomatic power and shares a border with both Colombia and Venezuela.
Colombia should also explain any mitigating circumstance, such as if the raid was mounted in self-defense or was a "hot pursuit" action, he said.
Earlier on Monday, Brazil said it would increase diplomatic efforts to help resolve the standoff.
"This conflict ... is beginning to destabilize regional relations," said Marco Aurelio Garcia, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's foreign policy adviser.
"We are mobilizing all of Brazil's diplomatic resources and those of other South American capitals to find a lasting solution," Garcia told CBN radio.
Lula was due to talk to Argentine President Cristina Fernandez to coordinate diplomatic efforts, Garcia said. Chile also offered to take part in resolving the conflict, he said.
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Venezuela Government Closes Border With Colombia, EFE Reports
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Bloomberg. com
By Matthew Walter
March 4, 2008
http://www. bloomberg. com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aJINMLbb6...
March 4 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela's government has ordered the closure of its border with Colombia, as tensions between the two countries rise, EFE reported the country's agricultural and land Minister, Elias Jaua, as saying.
Venezuela's government has already ordered more troops to the border, and yesterday expelled the Colombian ambassador in Caracas, Jaua said, according to the news service.
To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Walter in Caracas at mwalter4@bloomberg.net.
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Mar. 2 - Venezuela's president warns his Colombian counterpart to stay out of his territory in his campaign against FARC rebels. Efforts by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to negotiate the release of hostages held by FARC guerrillas has fuelled tensions with Colombia whose President, Alvaro Uribe, is hailing the killing of the rebels' second-in-command as a major forward step.
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Chavez sends tanks to Colombia border in dispute
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Reuters
03-03-2008
http://www. reuters. com/article/worldNews/idUSN0227633020080302?fe...
By Saul Hudson
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez moved tanks to the Colombian border and mobilized fighter jets on Sunday, warning Bogota could spark a war after its troops struck inside another of its neighbors, Ecuador.
Reacting to Colombia's killing on Saturday of a Colombian rebel over the border in Ecuador, a Venezuelan ally, Chavez also withdrew all of his diplomats from Bogota in the worst dispute between the neighbors since he came to office in 1999.
"Mr. Defense Minister, move me 10 battalions to the frontier with Colombia immediately, tank battalions. The air force should mobilize," Chavez said, adding he will bolster his military's presence along the 1,400-mile (2,200-km) border.
"May God spare us a war. But we are not going to allow them violate our sovereign territory," the ex-paratrooper added on his weekly TV show.
Colombia's military said on Saturday troops killed Raul Reyes, a leader of Marxist FARC rebels, during an attack on a jungle camp in Ecuador in a severe blow to Latin America's oldest guerrilla insurgency. The operation included air strikes and fighting with rebels across the frontier.
The anti-U.S. Chavez, who had warned a similar operation in Venezuela would be "cause for war," threatened to send Russian-made fighter jets into U.S. ally Colombia if its troops struck inside his OPEC country.
Colombia had no immediate reaction to Venezuela's military movements. Prior to Chavez's statement, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe denied violating Ecuador's sovereignty, saying the operation was in response to fire from across the border.
But the leftist governments of Venezuela and Ecuador questioned the accuracy of his account. Ecuador withdrew its ambassador in protest.
"Colombia has not violated any sovereignty, only acted in accordance with the principal of legitimate defense," the government said in a statement.
Washington, which backs Uribe's fight against the rebels with its largest military aid outside the Middle East, said it was monitoring developments after Chavez's "odd reaction."
France called for restraint on all sides, saying it underlined the need for the negotiated release of FARC hostages, including the most high-profile captive, French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.
The FARC said in a statement the killing of one its leaders who had been involved in hostage talks should not affect moves to free captives, according to the Venezuelan government.
CIVIL WAR SPILLOVER
Uribe, who is popular at home for his tough stance against the rebels, has often jousted with neighbors over spillover from the four-decade conflict. But he has managed differences with pragmatism and disputes have rarely moved past rhetoric.
Uribe says rebels take refuge in frontier areas and neighbors urge him to stop violence seeping over borders.
Chavez has been in a diplomatic dispute with Uribe for months over his mediation to free the rebels' hostages. Uribe says Chavez used the talks to meddle in Colombian affairs.
The Venezuelan called the rebel leader's death the "cowardly assassination" of a "good revolutionary."
"I am putting Venezuela on alert and we will support Ecuador in any situation," he said.
Uribe is "a liar, a Mafia boss, a paramilitary who leads a narco-government and leads a government that is a lackey of the United States," Chavez added.
Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue thinktank in Washington and a critic of Chavez, said the Venezuelan was playing with fire even if the spat could distract from his domestic problems such as chronic shortages of some foods.
"It maybe is a measure of how concerned he is about his own domestic support," he said. "I don't know how far he is going to go with this, but it is a risky political action."
(Additional reporting by Patricia Rondon in Caracas, Patrick Markey in Bogota, Jean-Baptiste Vey in Paris and David Alexander in Crawford; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Mar. 2 - Venezuela's president warns his Colombian counterpart to stay out of his territory in his campaign against FARC rebels. Efforts by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to negotiate the release of hostages held by FARC guerrillas has fuelled tensions with Colombia whose President, Alvaro Uribe, is hailing the killing of the rebels' second-in-command as a major forward step.
President Hugo Chavez: Venezuela has mobilised its military forces and threatened to declare war on neighbouring Colombia
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U.S.could intervene as Chavez prepares for war on Colombia
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UK Daily Mail
By WILLIAM LOWTHER
2nd March 2008
http://www. dailymail. co. uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews. h...
Venezuela threatened to declare war on neighbouring Colombia last night, raising the prospect of the U.S. being drawn into conflict in South America.
Venezuela's Left-wing president Hugo Chavez ordered ten tank battalions to the Colombian border and put war-planes under emergency stand-by.
The tension follows Colombia's decision to send its army to strike against anti-government guerrillas hiding in the jungles of Ecuador.
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Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia seek support in crisis
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Reuters
By Jorge Silva
Monday, March 3, 2008
SAN ANTONIO, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia all sought international backing on Monday in a crisis that raised the specter of war after Venezuela and Ecuador deployed troops to the Colombian border.
The crisis erupted after Colombia bombed and sent troops inside Ecuador in a weekend raid that killed a Colombian rebel leader in his jungle camp in a major blow to Latin America's oldest guerrilla insurgency.
Governments from France to Brazil sought to defuse the crisis in the Andes, where Washington ally Colombian President Alvaro Uribe faces left-wing leaders fiercely opposed to U.S. free-market proposals for the region.
Traffic was normal in San Antonio at the main border crossing point between Venezuela and Colombia and while Venezuela and Ecuador said they had reinforced their borders, there was no immediate sign of any mobilization.
Venezuela state TV offered blanket coverage of the crisis but it showed no images of tanks, planes or troops moving and no other media reported military movements in the border area.
Colombia said it would not send extra troops to its frontiers with Venezuela and Ecuador.
Bogota justified its operation on Monday by saying international law allows such actions against "terrorists" and accused Ecuador of permitting the Marxist FARC rebels to take refuge in its territory.
"We have never been a country for ventures either in politics or in military matters," Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos told a U.N. human rights commission in Geneva. "We have always been respectful of the principal of non-interference."
But Ecuador, a close ally of the larger, richer Venezuela, said Colombia deliberately violated its sovereignty and urged Latin American governments to pressure Bogota so that it does not repeat its "aggression."
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is struggling to fix chronic food shortages in the OPEC nation, sent tanks to the border and threatened to counterattack with Russian-made jets should Colombia unleash a similar raid in Venezuela.
Chavez, who urged governments to side against Colombia, also closed his embassy in Bogota and fellow leftist Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa expelled Colombia's ambassador from Quito. Chavez and Correa both called conservative Uribe a liar.
With Chavez warning war could break out, there was immediate impact on the economies of the three Andean nations which share active trade ties.
Venezuelan and Ecuadorean debt and Colombia's currency all lost value on Monday, reflecting worries of increased risk in investing in the countries.
"It raises headline risks for all three countries significantly," Gianfranco Bertozzi of Lehman Brothers said.
NEIGHBORS SEEK TO DEFUSE CRISIS
Brazil, the region's diplomatic heavyweight, said it would seek to resolve the standoff, cautioning that the tensions were destabilizing regional ties.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet demanded Colombia explain to the region why its troops entered Ecuador.
"A situation of this nature without a doubt merits an explanation," she said. "The most important thing today is that we can avoid an escalation of this conflict."
France, which has worked to free rebel-held hostages, called for restraint on all sides and said the rebel's killing was bad news because he had been pivotal in freeing hostages.
Colombia, which apologized for the raid, sought to ease tensions.
Despite the leaders' passions and brinkmanship, as well as the risk of military missteps on the tense border, political analysts said a conflict was unlikely.
Chavez -- the leader of Andean leftists -- was more interested in firing up his base of support with rhetoric and can ill afford to lose food imports from Colombia, they added.
The opposition criticized Chavez for drawing Venezuela into a crisis over a raid that involved other nations.
"The odds of an escalation to a war-like conflict still seem modest, with so much at stake for all sides," Bertozzi said. "Tension should therefore dissipate in the coming days."
(Additional reporting by Antonio de la Jara in Santiago, Patrick Markey in Bogota and Raymond Colitt in Brasilia; Writing by Saul Hudson; Editing by Eric Beech)
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Venezuela, Colombia broke diplomatic ties last year...
Hugo Chavez interviewed on UK TV - He does not want to sell oil to US anymore
Hugo Chavez travelled to Russia last year - making GIANT arms and energy deals
***Flashback...
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Chávez’s Bid for Russian Arms Pains U.S.
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New York Times
By C. J.CHIVERS
August 16, 2007
http://www. nytimes. com/2007/08/16/world/europe/16russia. html
MOSCOW, Aug. 15 — A proposed contract between Russia and Venezuela that could transfer thousands of sniper rifles to Venezuela has raised concerns in the United States about the potential use or regional distribution of the weapons by the socialist-inspired government of President Hugo Chávez.
The rifles are the latest variant of the Dragunov, a long-barreled, semiautomatic design with a telescopic sight. It is derived in part from the much more widely circulated Kalashnikov assault rifle.
First manufactured in 1963 for use by militaries and intelligence agencies in the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact nations, the Dragunov and its clones have become among the most lethal and effective weapons against American troops and their allies in Iraq.
Venezuela is negotiating a contract with Rosoboronexport, the Kremlin-controlled arms export agency, to purchase about 5,000 modernized Dragunov rifles, according to officials at Izhmash, the rifle’s manufacturer.
Venezuela has about 34,000 soldiers in its army and 23,000 in its national guard, according to estimates by Jane’s Information Group, which analyzes military forces and regional risks.
Because sniper rifles are specialized infantry weapons and not typically issued to large numbers of soldiers, diplomats and military officers and analysts said, a purchase of several thousand Dragunovs would not seem to have a conventional military use for Venezuela’s armed forces.
“Sales like this, and other sales of military equipment and arms to Venezuela, don’t seem consistent with Venezuela’s needs,” David J. Kramer, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said by telephone.
“It does raise questions about their ultimate use,” he added. “We’re not sure what their purpose would be.”
Mark Joyce, the Americas editor for Jane’s Country Risk, part of Jane’s Information Group, said that a purchase of thousands of sniper rifles would fit with the continuing military reorganization in Venezuela under Mr. Chávez.
The changes emphasize large civilian reserve forces, which bypass the traditional military chain of command and report directly to Mr. Chávez and could become the core of a domestic guerrilla force if Venezuela were invaded.
“Obviously, what he has in mind is some sort of urban, guerrilla war against an invading force, and the model for that is Iraq,” Mr. Joyce said.
Venezuela has purchased 100,000 AK-103s, a modern Kalashnikov rifle that shares much of the underlying design of the original AK-47. With Russian technical assistance, the country is also planning to build a plant to produce its own Kalashnikov line and a second plant to make the ammunition that Kalashnikovs fire.
These contracts do not defy any sanctions and are legal. But they also drew criticism in Washington, which has expressed worry that Mr. Chávez’s government was buying more weapons than it needed and could distribute weapons to South American guerrillas or terrorists.
Mr. Joyce noted that Venezuela had long been accused of providing weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a large and heavily equipped Marxist group that the State Department classifies as a foreign terrorist organization. Venezuela has disputed those allegations.
Washington’s concerns about Mr. Chávez led to a suspension of United States arms sales to Venezuela in 2006. Mr. Chávez has scoffed at the suspension and negotiated equipment purchases from Russia, including military jets, helicopters, rifles and, potentially, submarines.
The Venezuelan Embassy in Moscow declined several requests since last week for an interview about the latest proposed contract, details of which were discussed last week by officials at Izhmash.
On a tour last week of the factory where Kalashnikov and Dragunov rifles were being assembled, Vladimir V. Farafoshin, a deputy director at Izhmash, said that the full order of 100,000 AK-103s had been manufactured and delivered to Venezuela, and that Russia was negotiating the sale of “about 5,000” Dragunovs as part of a separate arms deal.
New Dragunov rifles were being assembled nearby as he spoke, although their destination was not clear.
Vladimir P. Grodetsky, the general director at Izhmash, expressed satisfaction with the contracts with Venezuela, saying that the country was a reliable partner that made its scheduled payments regularly and on time.
The gun manufacturing lines at Izhmash, which were almost halted after the collapse of the Soviet Union, have increased production in recent years. The contracts with Venezuela are its largest foreign sales that are publicly known.
August 19, 2008 - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez went on national television to assert that the 9/11 attacks on the United States may have been a self-inflicted wound
Russia, Venezuela seek closer cooperation - Oil and scary amount of weapons sales - July 23, 2008
Fex News - Russia could base nuclear bombers in Cuba July 23, 2008
Russia plans to deploy NUCLEAR BOMBERS in Cuba to counter US missile shield plans in Eastern Europe July 22, 2008
Can you blame them? US Navy re-establishes fleet for Caribbean, Lat...
Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez (R), gestures at Manuel Rios air base in Guarico, southeast of Caracas, on August 17, 2008.The White House said Monday that Chavez's invitation to host a Russian fleet was "curious" and accused him of neglecting his people's problems
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US: Venezuela's Russia fleet invite is 'curious'
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AFP News
Mon Aug 18, 12:35 PM ET
http://news. yahoo. com/s/afp/20080818/pl_afp/venezuelarussiamilita...
CRAWFORD, Texas (AFP) - The White House said Monday that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's invitation to host a Russian fleet was "curious" and accused him of neglecting his people's problems
"The Russians and the Venezuelans can engage in whatever cooperation that they would like.But it's curious, I'm not sure what Venezuela needs or gains by a visit by the Russian fleet," said spokesman Gordon Johndroe
"You would think that President Chavez would concentrate more on the problems that the people of Venezuela are having rather than inviting the fleet in for a port call," he said, adding that he could not confirm the invitation
Chavez said during his weekly radio program on Sunday that Russian President Dmitri Medvedev wanted to send a Russian naval fleet to visit Venezuela
"I told the president (Medvedev), 'If you're coming to the Caribbean, we'll welcome you,'" Chavez said, adding that the Russian naval fleet would pay "a friendly and working" visit to Venezuela
Under the leftist Chavez, Venezuela has been seeking closer relations with Moscow, in part to buy military hardware, including 24 Russian Sukhoi fighter jets recently delivered, after Washington refused to supply spare parts for the F-16 jets it sold Venezuela in the 1980s
Over the past few years, Venezuela and Russia have signed 4.0 billion dollars' worth of arms deals, including AK-47 automatic rifles and military helicopters
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Russia wants to send naval fleet to Venezuela: Chavez
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The Economic Times
18 Aug, 2008
http://economictimes. indiatimes. com/News/PoliticsNation/Russia_wa...
CARACAS: President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday that Russian President Dimitri Medvedev wants to send a Russian naval fleet to visit Venezuela
"Russia has informed us they intend to visit Venezuela, that is, the intention that a Russian fleet should come to the Caribbean," Chavez said on his weekly radio program
"I told the president (Medvedev), 'If you're coming to the Caribbean, we'll welcome you,'" Chavez said, adding that the Russian naval fleet would pay "a friendly and working" visit to Venezuela
Under leftist President Chavez, Venezuela has been seeking closer relations with Moscow, in part to buy military hardware, including 24 Russian Sukhoi fighter jets recently delivered, after Washington refused to supply spare parts for the F-16 jets it sold Venezuela in the 1980s
Over the past few years, Venezuela and Russia have signed 4.0 billion dollars' worth of arms deals, including AK-47 automatic rifles and military helicopters
"We very much need them here," Chavez said of the Russian weapons."We've got the helicopters, the Sukoi fighters and we're now considering buying some Russian submarines to patrol our territorial waters," Chavez said
Chavez on Sunday also repeated his support for Moscow in its conflict over Georgia's separatist territory of South Ossetia, and called Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili "a puppet of the United States"
Flashback: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (R) visits AK factory in Russia July 26, 2006 - Venezuela received 100,000 units of AK-103's
Venezuela President Hugo Chavez visits Russia - July 23, 2008 Russia Today
Venezuela's massive weapons purchase in Russia - July 22, 2008
Hugo Chavez stockpiles Russia China weapons with oil money - July 23, 2008
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Chavez warns US after getting Russian warplanes
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RIA Novosti
08/04/2008
http://en. rian. ru/world/20080804/115619889. html
MOSCOW, August 4 (RIA Novosti) - President Hugo Chavez said Venezuela had taken delivery of 24 Russian Sukhoi fighter jets, and warned the US Fourth Fleet that his country is ready to defend itself
"We've received the 24 Sukhoi aircraft," he said Sunday."They're for defensive purposes; we're not going to attack anybody"
The deal included training for pilots and crews, as well as missiles for the fighters
Chavez said the Sukhoi missiles have far greater range than those of the US F-16 fighter jet, and warned the US Fourth Fleet to keep out of Venezuelan waters
"Any gringo ship that sails into brown waters [river waters] will itself turn brown and go to the bottom, because they'll not get through," he said
The jets are part of a recent $4 billion deal with Moscow, including tanks, transport planes, air-defense systems and AK assault rifles
In 2005-2006, Venezuela signed a deal to buy more than 50 combat helicopters, 24 Su-30MK2 fighters, 12 Tor-M1 air defense missile systems and 100,000 AK-103 rifles from Russia
Chavez, an outspoken critic of Washington since coming to power nine years ago, has focused his foreign policy on bolstering ties with countries outside the US sphere of influence
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Putin wants closer military ties with Venezuela
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RIA Novosti
22/ 07/ 2008
http://en. rian. ru/russia/20080722/114656330. html
NOVO-OGARYOVO, July 22 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday that he hopes military ties between the countries will strengthen
Chavez, who is currently on an official visit to Russia, discussed political, economic and defense cooperation with the premier at Putin's residence near Moscow
"We have recently been strengthening the legal base for our cooperation, searching for ways to diversify our relations through new cooperation areas, namely transport, space, high-tech production, and of course military and technical cooperation," Putin said
During the meeting, Putin accepted an invitation from Chavez to visit Venezuela
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met with Chavez earlier in the day for talks focusing on arms and energy deals
On arriving in Moscow, Chavez called for Russia and Venezuela to become strategic partners in oil and defense, something he said would "guarantee Venezuela's sovereignty, which is currently being threatened by the United States"
Venezuela has bought over 50 combat helicopters, 24 Su-30MK2 fighters, and 100,000 AK-103 rifles from Russia, and also holds a license for their production.The current contracts are worth about $4 billion
Moscow plans to start supplying Venezuela with at least ten Mi-28N helicopters in the second half of 2009
The two countries have also negotiated the delivery of three Russian Project 636 Kilo-class diesel submarines and at least 20 Tor-M1 air defense missile systems to Caracas.Contracts for these two deals, if signed, may be worth another $1 billion
In line with the state program for the modernization of the armed forces until 2012, Venezuela is planning to spend about $30 billion in the next four years on the purchase of weaponry abroad
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Russia, Cuba set to boost ties
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RIA Novosti
08/01/2008
http://en. rian. ru/russia/20080801/115487270. html
MOSCOW, August 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and Cuba are to make efforts to boost bilateral cooperation in all spheres, the Russian Security Council said on Friday
Council chief Nikolai Patrushev and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin visited Cuba on July 30-31, in a trip focusing on projects to revive economic ties between the former Cold War allies, including Russian companies' participation in developing oil fields in the Latin American state
"[Cuban President] Raul Castro, Patrushev and Sechin said at a meeting that their countries' were set to make consistent efforts to restore longtime ties in all spheres of cooperation and to expand and strengthen them," the Security Council said in a statement
Sechin earlier cited oil production, tourism, healthcare, nickel production, telecommunications and nanotechnology as the most promising spheres for cooperation between the two countries
Russia issued a $355 million loan for the purchase of vehicles and the financing of energy infrastructure in Cuba in 2006, reviving ties that had been weakened by the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991
Havana also committed itself to buying three Il-96-300 planes and three Tu-204 passenger medium-haul aircraft
The visit of Patrushev and Sechin came after media reports said Russia could place an orbital ballistic missile system in Cuba in response to US missile defense plans for Central Europe
In October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the US and the USS.R.to the brink of war when Soviet missiles were stationed in Cuba
The crisis was resolved after 12 days when the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, backed down and ordered the missiles removed
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Ecuador says U.S must leave Manta air base
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It's American military's only South American outpost for anti-drug flights
Associated Press
July 29, 2008
http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/25922554/
QUITO, Ecuador - The US military must stop using its only outpost in South America for anti-drug flights when Washington's 10-year lease on the base in Ecuador expires in 2009, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday
Leftist President Rafael Correa has repeatedly said that Ecuador would not renew the agreement to use the Manta air base, but Tuesday's Foreign Ministry statement said the South American nation has now formally notified the US Embassy of the decision
Some 300 US soldiers are stationed at the Pacific base and flights from Manta are responsible for about 60 percent of US drug interdiction in the eastern Pacific
The statement said that surveillance flights will end in August 2009 "and the withdrawal of foreign personnel from the Ecuadorean Air Force base in Manta will end in November of that year"
The United States and Ecuador signed the 10-year agreement in Nov.12, 1999
US military officials have said that Washington is not planning to set up an alternative to the base in either neighboring Colombia or Peru.The US government has previously said it will respect Ecuador's decision
A draft constitution backed by Correa that was recently approved by a special assembly, abolishes any foreign military bases on Ecuadorean soil.The draft charter must still be approved by voters in a referendum
Ecuador produces very little cocaine, but is often used as a transit country for drugs sent from Colombia and Peru to the United States
Members of the Venezuelan National Guard receive instruction in San Antonio, in the Tachira state of Colombia. President Hugo Chavez ordered "10 battallions" of troops, about 9,000 soldiers, to the border it shares with Colombia. Chavez deployed troops in response to Colombia's killing of a top rebel leader on Ecuadorean soil over the weekend. Ecuador has also sent troops to its border with Colombia, denouncing the military strike as a violation of its sovereignty.
Venezuela's military currently has about 100,000 regular troops and a growing force of reservists that now totals 280,000, said Retired Gen. Alberto Muller Rojas, who in retirement is vice president of Chavez's socialist party.
Soldiers use a military vehicle to set a patrol boat into the San Miguel river on the border of Colombia and Ecuador. Colombian president Alvaro Uribe accused Chavez of backing genocide and said he would denounce him in international court.
A Venezuelan Army light armored car stands in position on a main street in Mojan, in the state of Moaracaibo in Venezuela.
Ecuadorian soldiers unload two corpses of FARC rebels from a helicopter. The rebels were killed in Ecuador's Angostura jungle camp by a Colombian strike. Ecuador has severed diplomatic ties with Colombia and Venezuela.
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'WAR HAS BEGUN,' SAYS VENEZUELA
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Associated Press
By TOBY MUSE
http://www. nypost. com/seven/03052008/news/worldnews/war_has_begun...
March 5, 2008 -- CUCUTA, Colombia - Venezuela and Ecuador reinforced their borders with Colombia yesterday as the three nations traded increasingly bitter accusations over Colombia's cross-border strike on a leftist guerrilla base in Ecuador.
Rejecting a Colombian apology as insufficient, Ecuador sought international condemnation of the attack during an emergency meeting of the Organization of American States, convened in Washington to help defuse one of South America's most volatile crises in years.
Venezuela's justice minister declared that war "has already begun."
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa called his Colombian counterpart, Alvaro Uribe, a "baldfaced liar."
Uribe demanded the International Criminal Court try Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for genocide.
President Bush accused Chavez of "provocative maneuvers."
Colombia said documents found at the base showed rebels wanted to make a radioactive dirty bomb.
But the documents it shared with reporters didn't support the allegation, indicating instead that the rebels were trying to buy uranium to resell at a profit.
Uribe said Chavez should be prosecuted for allegedly financing the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
Uribe cited documents in a laptop seized in Reyes' jungle camp that he said showed Venezuela made a $300 million payment to the rebels.
Both Venezuela and Ecuador dismissed all the allegations as lies.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said the idea of trying Chavez was "laughable."
At the moment, it's mostly a war of words, and other nations tried yesterday to keep it that way, although many said Colombia was wrong to send troops into Ecuador.
The Saturday raid killed 24 guerrillas, including rebel spokesman Raul Reyes, who was engaged in hostage talks with Venezuela, France and other countries.
Venezuela kicked out US big oil companies Exxon Mobil and Conoco Philips last year, dropping the US dollar peg, and is now threatening to cut off US from its vast oil reserve, of course US would back a war to destroy Venezuela, by assisting the US puppet cocaine mafia government in Colombia. Venezuela is the 4th largest oil exporter to US, imagine US gets cut off from its oil supply. Not only that, Russia had licensed Venezuela to open 2 factories to manufacture AK Kalashnikov Automatic Rifles.
Any of this build up happened by accident?
....
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Chavez – Colombia is US’ ISRAEL in Latin America and must be dealt ...
2007 - Russia, Venezuela in talks on 636 Kilo-class submarines, 24 ...
Russia Venezuela - Good buddies in giant arms and energy deals
Russia to build 2 Kalashnikov factories in Venezuela by 2010
Hugo Chavez Threatens US Oil Cutoff
Mar. 3 - Tensions continue to build between Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador after Colombia's attack on a leftist rebel camp in Ecuador. The crisis erupted when Colombia flew troops into Ecuador in a bombing raid that killed a leading guerrilla commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Mar. 3 - Ecuador and Venezuela have sent troops to their borders with Colombia in a growing confrontation with their Andean neighbour. The crisis started when Colombian troops staged a raid into Ecuadorian territory, killing a top commander from the rebel Colombian FARC movement. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has threatened that any such move into his country could escalate into war.
Bush backs his cocaine mafia buddies in Colombia - Mar. 4 - Standing on the South Lawn of the White House, President Bush said, "America fully supports Colombia's democracy and that we firmly oppose any acts of aggression that could destabilize the region." The President said, "I spoke to President Uribe of Colombia. He updated me on the situation in his country, including the continuing assault by narco-terrorists, as well as the provocative maneuvers by the regime in Venezuela." President Bush also called on the U.S. Congress to approve a free trade agreement with Colombia.
Colombia hostage deal 'ruined' - Mar. 4 - Ecuador says Colombia's military raid into its territory has ruined negotiations to free 12 hostages held by FARC. Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa says his government had been close to securing a deal with FARC rebels to free the hostages, who include French-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt. Correa was responding to accusations by Colombia that his government had ties to the rebels.
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Bush assails Chavez, backs Colombia in standoff
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Reuters
Tue Mar 4, 2008
By Matt Spetalnick
WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's government of "provocative maneuvers" against Colombia and vowed to oppose any act of aggression in the Andean region.
"I told him that America would continue to stand with Colombia as it confronts violence and terror and fights drug traffickers," Bush told reporters after a phone call with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
Bush was quick to single out Chavez, a strident anti-U.S. critic, as a culprit in a crisis that has engulfed the Andean region after a raid by Colombian troops into Ecuador on Saturday that killed a top commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC.
Ecuador and Venezuela have responded by cutting diplomatic ties with Colombia, a close U.S. ally, and ordering troops to their neighbor's borders.
Uribe has accused Chavez and his ally Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa of supporting the FARC. The group is seen as a terrorist group by Uribe's government and the United States.
Bush said Uribe had updated him on the situation, "including the continuing assault by narco-terrorists as well as the provocative maneuvers by the regime in Venezuela."
"I told the president that America fully supports Colombia's democracy and that we firmly oppose any act of aggression that could destabilize the region," he added.
Bush urged Republican and Democratic lawmakers to put aside differences over a free trade agreement with Colombia and approve the pact in a show of support for Bogota.
"If we fail to approve this agreement, we will let down a close ally. We will damage our credibility in the region and we will embolden the demagogues in our hemisphere," Bush said.
The crisis has reflected a sharp political divide in South America, where Uribe, who has strong U.S. financial and military backing, is opposed by leftists led by Chavez who fiercely reject what they brand U.S. "imperialism".
Chavez, who has called for a socialist revolution in Latin America to counter U.S. influence, has regularly hurled insults at Bush in recent years and once called him the "devil" in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly.(Additional reporting by Doug Palmer, Editing by Frances Kerry)
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Brazil condemns Colombia's Ecuador raid
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Reuters
Tue 4 Mar 2008
By Raymond Colitt
BRASILIA, March 3 (Reuters) - Brazil's foreign minister on Monday condemned a Colombian military strike on rebels inside Ecuador and called on Bogota to offer an explicit apology.
"The territorial violation is very serious and needs to be condemned," Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said in Brasilia. "Brazil condemns any territorial violation."
Amorim also said the Colombian government should offer an "explicit" apology to contain the growing crisis prompted by the weekend raid, in which Colombian forces struck at a FARC rebel camp inside Ecuador.
He called for the Organization of American States (OAS) regional body to set up a committee to investigate the circumstances of the attack, which included air strikes and ground combat. Senior FARC leader Raul Reyes was killed.
The incident has flared into the most dangerous dispute in Latin America for years. Venezuela and Ecuador sent troops to their borders with Colombia on Sunday and downgraded diplomatic ties.
"A more explicit apology to Ecuador for the territorial violation would help contain the crisis," said Amorim, whose country is a regional diplomatic power and shares a border with both Colombia and Venezuela.
Colombia should also explain any mitigating circumstance, such as if the raid was mounted in self-defense or was a "hot pursuit" action, he said.
Earlier on Monday, Brazil said it would increase diplomatic efforts to help resolve the standoff.
"This conflict ... is beginning to destabilize regional relations," said Marco Aurelio Garcia, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's foreign policy adviser.
"We are mobilizing all of Brazil's diplomatic resources and those of other South American capitals to find a lasting solution," Garcia told CBN radio.
Lula was due to talk to Argentine President Cristina Fernandez to coordinate diplomatic efforts, Garcia said. Chile also offered to take part in resolving the conflict, he said.
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Venezuela Government Closes Border With Colombia, EFE Reports
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Bloomberg. com
By Matthew Walter
March 4, 2008
http://www. bloomberg. com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aJINMLbb6...
March 4 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela's government has ordered the closure of its border with Colombia, as tensions between the two countries rise, EFE reported the country's agricultural and land Minister, Elias Jaua, as saying.
Venezuela's government has already ordered more troops to the border, and yesterday expelled the Colombian ambassador in Caracas, Jaua said, according to the news service.
To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Walter in Caracas at mwalter4@bloomberg.net.
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Mar. 2 - Venezuela's president warns his Colombian counterpart to stay out of his territory in his campaign against FARC rebels. Efforts by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to negotiate the release of hostages held by FARC guerrillas has fuelled tensions with Colombia whose President, Alvaro Uribe, is hailing the killing of the rebels' second-in-command as a major forward step.
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Chavez sends tanks to Colombia border in dispute
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Reuters
03-03-2008
http://www. reuters. com/article/worldNews/idUSN0227633020080302?fe...
By Saul Hudson
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez moved tanks to the Colombian border and mobilized fighter jets on Sunday, warning Bogota could spark a war after its troops struck inside another of its neighbors, Ecuador.
Reacting to Colombia's killing on Saturday of a Colombian rebel over the border in Ecuador, a Venezuelan ally, Chavez also withdrew all of his diplomats from Bogota in the worst dispute between the neighbors since he came to office in 1999.
"Mr. Defense Minister, move me 10 battalions to the frontier with Colombia immediately, tank battalions. The air force should mobilize," Chavez said, adding he will bolster his military's presence along the 1,400-mile (2,200-km) border.
"May God spare us a war. But we are not going to allow them violate our sovereign territory," the ex-paratrooper added on his weekly TV show.
Colombia's military said on Saturday troops killed Raul Reyes, a leader of Marxist FARC rebels, during an attack on a jungle camp in Ecuador in a severe blow to Latin America's oldest guerrilla insurgency. The operation included air strikes and fighting with rebels across the frontier.
The anti-U.S. Chavez, who had warned a similar operation in Venezuela would be "cause for war," threatened to send Russian-made fighter jets into U.S. ally Colombia if its troops struck inside his OPEC country.
Colombia had no immediate reaction to Venezuela's military movements. Prior to Chavez's statement, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe denied violating Ecuador's sovereignty, saying the operation was in response to fire from across the border.
But the leftist governments of Venezuela and Ecuador questioned the accuracy of his account. Ecuador withdrew its ambassador in protest.
"Colombia has not violated any sovereignty, only acted in accordance with the principal of legitimate defense," the government said in a statement.
Washington, which backs Uribe's fight against the rebels with its largest military aid outside the Middle East, said it was monitoring developments after Chavez's "odd reaction."
France called for restraint on all sides, saying it underlined the need for the negotiated release of FARC hostages, including the most high-profile captive, French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.
The FARC said in a statement the killing of one its leaders who had been involved in hostage talks should not affect moves to free captives, according to the Venezuelan government.
CIVIL WAR SPILLOVER
Uribe, who is popular at home for his tough stance against the rebels, has often jousted with neighbors over spillover from the four-decade conflict. But he has managed differences with pragmatism and disputes have rarely moved past rhetoric.
Uribe says rebels take refuge in frontier areas and neighbors urge him to stop violence seeping over borders.
Chavez has been in a diplomatic dispute with Uribe for months over his mediation to free the rebels' hostages. Uribe says Chavez used the talks to meddle in Colombian affairs.
The Venezuelan called the rebel leader's death the "cowardly assassination" of a "good revolutionary."
"I am putting Venezuela on alert and we will support Ecuador in any situation," he said.
Uribe is "a liar, a Mafia boss, a paramilitary who leads a narco-government and leads a government that is a lackey of the United States," Chavez added.
Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue thinktank in Washington and a critic of Chavez, said the Venezuelan was playing with fire even if the spat could distract from his domestic problems such as chronic shortages of some foods.
"It maybe is a measure of how concerned he is about his own domestic support," he said. "I don't know how far he is going to go with this, but it is a risky political action."
(Additional reporting by Patricia Rondon in Caracas, Patrick Markey in Bogota, Jean-Baptiste Vey in Paris and David Alexander in Crawford; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Mar. 2 - Venezuela's president warns his Colombian counterpart to stay out of his territory in his campaign against FARC rebels. Efforts by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to negotiate the release of hostages held by FARC guerrillas has fuelled tensions with Colombia whose President, Alvaro Uribe, is hailing the killing of the rebels' second-in-command as a major forward step.
President Hugo Chavez: Venezuela has mobilised its military forces and threatened to declare war on neighbouring Colombia
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U.S.could intervene as Chavez prepares for war on Colombia
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UK Daily Mail
By WILLIAM LOWTHER
2nd March 2008
http://www. dailymail. co. uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews. h...
Venezuela threatened to declare war on neighbouring Colombia last night, raising the prospect of the U.S. being drawn into conflict in South America.
Venezuela's Left-wing president Hugo Chavez ordered ten tank battalions to the Colombian border and put war-planes under emergency stand-by.
The tension follows Colombia's decision to send its army to strike against anti-government guerrillas hiding in the jungles of Ecuador.
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Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia seek support in crisis
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Reuters
By Jorge Silva
Monday, March 3, 2008
SAN ANTONIO, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia all sought international backing on Monday in a crisis that raised the specter of war after Venezuela and Ecuador deployed troops to the Colombian border.
The crisis erupted after Colombia bombed and sent troops inside Ecuador in a weekend raid that killed a Colombian rebel leader in his jungle camp in a major blow to Latin America's oldest guerrilla insurgency.
Governments from France to Brazil sought to defuse the crisis in the Andes, where Washington ally Colombian President Alvaro Uribe faces left-wing leaders fiercely opposed to U.S. free-market proposals for the region.
Traffic was normal in San Antonio at the main border crossing point between Venezuela and Colombia and while Venezuela and Ecuador said they had reinforced their borders, there was no immediate sign of any mobilization.
Venezuela state TV offered blanket coverage of the crisis but it showed no images of tanks, planes or troops moving and no other media reported military movements in the border area.
Colombia said it would not send extra troops to its frontiers with Venezuela and Ecuador.
Bogota justified its operation on Monday by saying international law allows such actions against "terrorists" and accused Ecuador of permitting the Marxist FARC rebels to take refuge in its territory.
"We have never been a country for ventures either in politics or in military matters," Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos told a U.N. human rights commission in Geneva. "We have always been respectful of the principal of non-interference."
But Ecuador, a close ally of the larger, richer Venezuela, said Colombia deliberately violated its sovereignty and urged Latin American governments to pressure Bogota so that it does not repeat its "aggression."
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is struggling to fix chronic food shortages in the OPEC nation, sent tanks to the border and threatened to counterattack with Russian-made jets should Colombia unleash a similar raid in Venezuela.
Chavez, who urged governments to side against Colombia, also closed his embassy in Bogota and fellow leftist Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa expelled Colombia's ambassador from Quito. Chavez and Correa both called conservative Uribe a liar.
With Chavez warning war could break out, there was immediate impact on the economies of the three Andean nations which share active trade ties.
Venezuelan and Ecuadorean debt and Colombia's currency all lost value on Monday, reflecting worries of increased risk in investing in the countries.
"It raises headline risks for all three countries significantly," Gianfranco Bertozzi of Lehman Brothers said.
NEIGHBORS SEEK TO DEFUSE CRISIS
Brazil, the region's diplomatic heavyweight, said it would seek to resolve the standoff, cautioning that the tensions were destabilizing regional ties.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet demanded Colombia explain to the region why its troops entered Ecuador.
"A situation of this nature without a doubt merits an explanation," she said. "The most important thing today is that we can avoid an escalation of this conflict."
France, which has worked to free rebel-held hostages, called for restraint on all sides and said the rebel's killing was bad news because he had been pivotal in freeing hostages.
Colombia, which apologized for the raid, sought to ease tensions.
Despite the leaders' passions and brinkmanship, as well as the risk of military missteps on the tense border, political analysts said a conflict was unlikely.
Chavez -- the leader of Andean leftists -- was more interested in firing up his base of support with rhetoric and can ill afford to lose food imports from Colombia, they added.
The opposition criticized Chavez for drawing Venezuela into a crisis over a raid that involved other nations.
"The odds of an escalation to a war-like conflict still seem modest, with so much at stake for all sides," Bertozzi said. "Tension should therefore dissipate in the coming days."
(Additional reporting by Antonio de la Jara in Santiago, Patrick Markey in Bogota and Raymond Colitt in Brasilia; Writing by Saul Hudson; Editing by Eric Beech)
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Venezuela, Colombia broke diplomatic ties last year...
Hugo Chavez interviewed on UK TV - He does not want to sell oil to US anymore
Hugo Chavez travelled to Russia last year - making GIANT arms and energy deals
***Flashback...
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Chávez’s Bid for Russian Arms Pains U.S.
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New York Times
By C. J.CHIVERS
August 16, 2007
http://www. nytimes. com/2007/08/16/world/europe/16russia. html
MOSCOW, Aug. 15 — A proposed contract between Russia and Venezuela that could transfer thousands of sniper rifles to Venezuela has raised concerns in the United States about the potential use or regional distribution of the weapons by the socialist-inspired government of President Hugo Chávez.
The rifles are the latest variant of the Dragunov, a long-barreled, semiautomatic design with a telescopic sight. It is derived in part from the much more widely circulated Kalashnikov assault rifle.
First manufactured in 1963 for use by militaries and intelligence agencies in the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact nations, the Dragunov and its clones have become among the most lethal and effective weapons against American troops and their allies in Iraq.
Venezuela is negotiating a contract with Rosoboronexport, the Kremlin-controlled arms export agency, to purchase about 5,000 modernized Dragunov rifles, according to officials at Izhmash, the rifle’s manufacturer.
Venezuela has about 34,000 soldiers in its army and 23,000 in its national guard, according to estimates by Jane’s Information Group, which analyzes military forces and regional risks.
Because sniper rifles are specialized infantry weapons and not typically issued to large numbers of soldiers, diplomats and military officers and analysts said, a purchase of several thousand Dragunovs would not seem to have a conventional military use for Venezuela’s armed forces.
“Sales like this, and other sales of military equipment and arms to Venezuela, don’t seem consistent with Venezuela’s needs,” David J. Kramer, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said by telephone.
“It does raise questions about their ultimate use,” he added. “We’re not sure what their purpose would be.”
Mark Joyce, the Americas editor for Jane’s Country Risk, part of Jane’s Information Group, said that a purchase of thousands of sniper rifles would fit with the continuing military reorganization in Venezuela under Mr. Chávez.
The changes emphasize large civilian reserve forces, which bypass the traditional military chain of command and report directly to Mr. Chávez and could become the core of a domestic guerrilla force if Venezuela were invaded.
“Obviously, what he has in mind is some sort of urban, guerrilla war against an invading force, and the model for that is Iraq,” Mr. Joyce said.
Venezuela has purchased 100,000 AK-103s, a modern Kalashnikov rifle that shares much of the underlying design of the original AK-47. With Russian technical assistance, the country is also planning to build a plant to produce its own Kalashnikov line and a second plant to make the ammunition that Kalashnikovs fire.
These contracts do not defy any sanctions and are legal. But they also drew criticism in Washington, which has expressed worry that Mr. Chávez’s government was buying more weapons than it needed and could distribute weapons to South American guerrillas or terrorists.
Mr. Joyce noted that Venezuela had long been accused of providing weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a large and heavily equipped Marxist group that the State Department classifies as a foreign terrorist organization. Venezuela has disputed those allegations.
Washington’s concerns about Mr. Chávez led to a suspension of United States arms sales to Venezuela in 2006. Mr. Chávez has scoffed at the suspension and negotiated equipment purchases from Russia, including military jets, helicopters, rifles and, potentially, submarines.
The Venezuelan Embassy in Moscow declined several requests since last week for an interview about the latest proposed contract, details of which were discussed last week by officials at Izhmash.
On a tour last week of the factory where Kalashnikov and Dragunov rifles were being assembled, Vladimir V. Farafoshin, a deputy director at Izhmash, said that the full order of 100,000 AK-103s had been manufactured and delivered to Venezuela, and that Russia was negotiating the sale of “about 5,000” Dragunovs as part of a separate arms deal.
New Dragunov rifles were being assembled nearby as he spoke, although their destination was not clear.
Vladimir P. Grodetsky, the general director at Izhmash, expressed satisfaction with the contracts with Venezuela, saying that the country was a reliable partner that made its scheduled payments regularly and on time.
The gun manufacturing lines at Izhmash, which were almost halted after the collapse of the Soviet Union, have increased production in recent years. The contracts with Venezuela are its largest foreign sales that are publicly known.
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