Venezuela and Those Blown Up Bridges: More US Hypocrisy

In an attempt to get this blog some more action, I am going to do something I don't usually do, and post a straight rip from a blog I highly respect - Otto's INCA KOLA NEWS:

Another taste of bizarre today as the hypocrisy of US foreign policy towards Venezuela shows up once again. Several newswires are running the story about how Venezuelan troops "blew up two bridges" that connect Venezuela with LittleUSA (a.k.a. Colombia) in the Norte de Santander region this week. Anyone who knows anything about that spot on the planet knows that those bridges are used for two main purposes:

Carrying cheap fuel from Venezuela to Colombia illegally
Carrying cocaine from Colombia to Venezuela (need I mention that's illegal?)

But sure enough, LittleUSA is going to make a protest about the fact that Venezuela wants to protect its borders from Colombia's main source of dollars. Apparently, f*cking up your neighbours via a long term and very large cocaine habit is socially acceptable while watching them protect themselves from you is aggressive behaviour.

This comes on the same day that The USA declares it wants to see Venezuela make more effort against drug runners. The arrogantly entitled 'Voice of America' (hint, 'America' is not a country, it's a double continent) starts off its report thusly:

U.S. anti-drug officials are calling for greater efforts by Venezuela to combat drug traffickers who are using the country to make illegal shipments.
So Venezuela has to make more effort to combat druggies, but when it does there's hell to pay. Go figure.

Again, go check out Otto's wonderful Latin American blog IKN. Don't hold it against him that he is also trying to make some money off gringo's irrational fear and misunderstanding of the region (mining stock).

Colombia Vs. Venezuela: US Media Distorts Human Rights Issues

FAIR Study: Human Rights Coverage Serving Washington’s Needs
FAIR finds editors downplaying Colombia’s abuses, amplifying Venezuela’s

This needed to be studied. This needed to be said. Very plainly.

Any evenhanded comparison of the Colombian and Venezuelan governments’ human rights records would have to note that, though Venezuela’s record is far from perfect, that country is by every measure a safer place than Colombia to live, vote, organize unions and political groups, speak out against the government or practice journalism.

But a new survey by FAIR shows that, over the past 10 years, editors at four leading U.S. newspapers have focused more on purported human rights abuses in Venezuela than in Colombia, and their commentary would suggest that Venezuela’s government has a worse human rights record than Colombia’s. These papers, FAIR found, seem more interested in reinforcing official U.S. policy toward the region than in genuinely supporting the rights of Colombians and Venezuelans.
...

As with the FAIR study, selective concern for these issues was the rule, a system in which editors seemed to have internalized U.S. strategic thinking, subordinating human rights commentary and reporting to politics, where a given country’s human rights record is held to greater or lesser scrutiny based on how friendly the country is with the U.S.

Rather than independently and critically assessing the Colombian and Venezuelan records, major corporate newspaper editors, to one degree or another, have subordinated crucial human rights questions.

No couldn't be. Not the NY Times, Washinton Post. Those scions would not totally get their Latin American human rights coverage ASS BACKWARDS, would they? I shudder to think what the coverage is like in less discerning capitalist rags.

Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela Make Nice, But Who Won?

Watch the hug

What a surreal scene down in Santo Domingo, DR. One minute the Ecuadorian, Venezuelan and Colombian Presidents (Correa, Chavez and Uribe) are enchanging insults, the next they are shaking hands. What the hell happened over lunch?

My guess is that crisis fatigue wore on. All involved realized they had made their points and there was nowhere else to go but to back down nice and east with all egos in check.

The tone was perhaps set by the prior night's announcement by Ecuador that they had raided and caught FARC rebels (the 47th such camp they have raided under Correa). Hugo Chavez was also quoted earlier in the day as calling for peaceful discussions and a racheting down of the crisis. Uribe continued his attacks, but Rafael Correa got the loudest applauses with his reasoned and principled stand.



Who wins, who loses? I think all win with their domestic constituencies. Correa, like Uribe, was supported by 80% plus of his countrymen during the crisis, but he probably boosted his standing in Latin America and the world the most. Chavez should also get a bump, though his enemies are inclined to see only bluster and not appreciate what he did for a little country by sticking his neck out there. He stood up to creeping aggression but eventually knew when to back off and take at least a partial victory.

Colombia had to apologize and say they will never do it again, pleasing Correa and Chavez. The concensus in the room on that was just too strong. Uribe was terribly isolated. But Colombia will probably end up getting some better cooperation on border issues from Ecuador and Venezuela. Hopefully progress on the hostages and Colombian peace process will also get back on tgrack, but I doubt it.

So the biggest losers of all this appears to be the families of the FARC hostages. Uribe could change and create the conditions for negotiation and progress, but I doubt it. But there may perhaps not be a better time for serious talks. Let us hope.

Colombia Commits Crime, Chavez Defends Latin Dignity

So for 12 hours, the world has been told (by everyone from CNN to my local LA news channel) that South America is on the brink of war. Why they mouth this lie is beyond me, but probably is an indication of how messed up American media views on that Continent have become.

Chavez is certainly bold, and he has chosen to put Venezuela's arm around its hermano Ecuador. It is a gesture that is not without risks but I feel Colombia will get the intended message - don't dare try that foolishness again. Sovereignty is the one thing everyone understands in Latin America. Even "moderate" "US friendly" folks like French Pres. Sarkozy called the death of Reyes "bad news," while Chilean Pres. M. Bachelet is "demanding and explanation."

The timing of the assault was probably not related to the military action nearby in Colombia, as Uribe's Govt. claims. Are we to believe that FARC would suddenly be that stupid to endanger an important leader by the need to take pot shots at aircraft at least a mile away (and with what weapons) and then go to bed (all killed were in their skivvies)?

Reyes was probably found by the US (or US equipment) and the attacks were related to the recent release of 4 more (quite important) hostages, orchestrated (without uribe's permission) by Chavez. This news increased the pressure by the hostage families on the Uribe Govt. to negotiate with FARC in order to get more of the releases (and even a peace agreement) they've dangeled out there.

But Uribe has no desire for an end to the status quo, where (right wing) narco para-militaries get (at worse) a negotiated couple years in plush facilities and get to keep control of the drugs, money and power - while the left is systematically mowed down. Meanwhile, Uribe has thetop Judge investigating it all (probably killing any he chance for a US Congressional approval of their pending free trade deal).

Uribe has a criminal mentality. No regard for law, which is explicit about armed incursions into another country - let alone unleashing the devastation he did. Need proof? Read any of the previous buried stories I featured here. You can find that 1) Uribe's campaign manager was the country's top importer of cocaine's principal chemical, 2) there are pictures of his brother with one of the leading narcos of the time, 3) his father's helicopter was found at a cocaine lab, 4) the FBI wanted him, 5) there are even very serious accusations of him being instrumental in Escobar getting his hands on airplanes and aviation licenses as head of that Ministry in the 80s... but he's the good duy in Latin America we are told.