This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Foreign Policy

  • No Mas FARC (Updated 3x)

    The same folks who organized the “No Mas FARC” protest last month sent me an email yesterday asking that I get the word out that they ask everyone to step outside their homes tonight at 6 PM (Colombian time – apparently it’s also Eastern Time) and light a candle for “a Latin America without FARC” then post a picture if you can on your blog, in Facebook or some other electronic medium.

    UPDATE: There’s a spontaneous rally at 17th and Constitution (in front of the Organization of American States) in DC at 5:30 pm today.

    UPDATE: Kate sends a link to pictures of the rally at the OAS, 3-4-08, and a narrative at her blog.

    Kate at A Colombo-Americana’s Perspective has posted the Spanish language email, I just translated the gist of it for you, though.

    Speaking of FARC, Gateway Pundit writes that the computer that Colombia liberated from the pieces of Raul Reyes this last weekend shows evidence that FARC is in the process of making “dirty bomb”;

    Colombian officials on Tuesday said that FARC rebels are working on a radioactive bomb and that they had purchased 50 kilograms of uranium this month. The information was discovered after Colombian forces ambushed a FARC base and captured a top terrorist’s computer this weekend.
    Reuters reported:

    Colombia said on Tuesday that FARC rebels had been planning to make a “dirty bomb” with radioactive material, threatening the entire Latin American region.

    The charges by Vice-President Francisco Santos, at the United Nations-sponsored Conference on Disarmament, marked a dramatic turn in a regional crisis that has seen Venezuela and Ecuador cut diplomatic ties with Colombia.

    Bogota has already accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of funding the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, after Colombian forces crossed into Ecuador and killed a senior rebel commander on Saturday, sparking troop movements and warnings of war.

    I find it hard to believe that FARC can continue this facade of being an Army of Liberation when the news of this dirty bomb gets around. A dirty bomb is purely a weapon of mass casualties, there is virtually no strategic use for it – except to deny an enemy use of a couple of city blocks for a few hundred years.

    When the evidence of this gets out, Ortiz, Chavez and Correa have some explaining to do. I’ve noticed that Evo Morales, the Moe character of Los Tres Chiflados of South America, has kept out of it so far.

    UPDATE: Babalu Blog writes that Colombia’s President Uribe has decided to take Chavez to The Hague on charges of genocide. But OAS, weak sisters that they are, are busy deciding what to do about Colombia violating Ecuador’s sovereignty.

  • FARC/Venezuela/Equador connections proven

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    Photo from the Miami Herald/AP/Doris Ochoa

    An alleged rebel of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, center, is carried from an Ecuadorian Army helicopter as she arrives, after being evacuated from the combat area, at a military base in Lago Agrio, Ecuador, Sunday.

    Yesterday I wrote about the threats Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez made against the Colombian government for their cross-border attack in Ecuador to kill a top leader of the Armed Revolutionary Front of Colombia (FARC). Chavez called Colombia the “Israel of Latin America” and threatened to “liberate” the people of Colombia from the Uribe government while Chavez and Rafael Correa of Ecuador mobilized their forces to their respective frontiers with Colombia.

    Well, the Washington Times’ Martin Arostegui reports this morning that Chavez has good reason to bring his country to the brink of war – Colombian troops have discovered records of FARC links to the Chavez and Correa governments;

    Colombia’s government said yesterday documents found in a jungle camp in Ecuador where Colombia troops killed Mr. Reyes showed ties between the FARC rebels and Mr. Correa, including contacts with his government about political proposals.

    Police Cmdr. Gen. Oscar Naranjo said documents found in computers belonging to Mr. Reyes showed contacts between a top Correa government minister and the FARC commander to discuss political proposals and projects on the frontier.

    “The questions raised by these documents need concrete answers,” Gen. Naranjo said. “What is the state of relations between the Ecuadorean government and a terrorist group like the FARC.”

    Mr. Uribe has often accused the FARC of using Venezuelan and Ecuadorean territory as safe havens from military attacks.

    According to the Miami Herald, Chavez also called for a moment of silence to honor the passing of FARC’s second-in-command Raul Reyes who was killed in Colombia’s cross-border raid;

    Chávez also asked for a moment of silence to honor the slain FARC leader, killed along with 16 other guerrillas. ”We pay tribute to a true revolutionary, who was Raúl Reyes,” Chávez said, calling him a “good revolutionary.”

    Yeah, good revolutionary who has directed the murder of thousands of innocent Colombians. If there was a terrorist group attacking Venezuela the way FARC has for 40 years, I doubt Chavez would be as charitable.

    Chávez didn’t spare any words Sunday in his verbal assault on Uribe, calling him ”a criminal, a Mafia boss, a paramilitary-man” and saying that he directs a “narco-government.”

    If Colombian troops crossed into Venezuela to pursue the FARC, Chávez warned, ”I’ll send some Sukhois” — Russian warplanes recently purchased by Venezuela.

    The Colombian government did not reply to Chávez on Sunday but reinforced security at shopping malls and public meeting places to guard against a possible FARC reprisal. Uribe and the high military command attended the funeral of the lone Colombian soldier who died in the attack against the FARC.

    Katy at Caracas Chronicles writes;

    Let’s hope cool heads prevail and that the Colombian government continues to ignore Chávez. If there is a war, the losers will be the Venezuelan people, specially those who live close to the border, whose day-to-day problems once again take the backseat to Chávez’s obsession to see the FARC triumph in Colombia

    Daniel at Venezuela News and Views reports that he saw nor heard any troop movements in Venezuela yesterday, but Chavez’ reaction betrayed the truth about what he has denied in the past;

    This is of course a grievous mistake on his part because his subconscious betrayed him: there must be indeed reasons for Uribe to order police actions on the Venezuela borders. With this simple menace Chavez in fact admits that the Venezuelan border is nothing more than the rest area of the FARC guerrillas and that these ones roam around in Venezuela. We already knew that, of course, and for memory just the case of Granda should be mentioned. But Chavez yesterday implied that the FARC operates freely in Venezuela and that he is protecting them and that he supports these terrorists and drug traffickers enough to go to war for them.

    Tomas Sancio at Venezuelan Politics asks two important questions that Chavez himself needs to find the answer to before he commits himself to a war with Colombia;

    Two questions for us Venezuelans: a) would we be willing to die to defend the FARC? and b) could we stand a Colombian embargo of food and medicines? Chávez better leave this as a rant and send troops to the border to protect Venezuelans from being kidnapped from the FARC instead of defending these murderers.

    From another Venezuelan blog, The Devil’s Excrement;

    The fact is that in this case, Chavez really blew it in a very definitive manner. He is taking the side of the FARC in a more open fashion. Which is a product of his deeper affinities with the guerrilla and also, due to his tactical political needs, after his defeat in the December referendum and in the face of critical elections next November, in the middle of an economic situation that becomes each day more unmanageable. Chavez seems to be full of reasons to escalate his confrontation with Colombia.

    The Real Cuba (h/t Babalu Blog) reports on a press conference held by the Colombian government this morning;

    There are several documents signed by Reyes and one of Correa’s ministers.

    One of the documents revealed that Correa agreed to get rid of any chief of police who didn’t sympathize with the Colombian guerrillas.

    Colombia has asked the Ecuadorian government to explain its relationship with the terrorist group, saying that it compromises Colombia’s security.

    In a perfect world, Chavez would be asking Correa the same questions. Gateway Pundit has more news and photos from yesterday as well as a report that Correa has had a press conference in Quito on the subject this morning. CNN reports that Correa has withdrawn his diplomat from Bogota, as well.

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    Photo from APF/Getty/CNN

    AP reports from Correa’s news conference;

    “There is no justification,” Correa said Sunday night, snubbing an earlier announcement from Colombia that it would apologize for the military incursion.

    Chavez called the killing of rebel leader and spokesman Raul Reyes and 16 other guerrillas on Saturday an attack by a “terrorist state,” saying it shows Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is a “criminal.”

    Um, Hugo, a terrorist state shelters terrorists, not kills terrorists. The Colombian Defense Minister explained the situation that lead to Reyes’ death (AP/Washington Examiner link);

    Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said military commandos, tracking Reyes through an informant, first bombed a camp on the Colombian side of the Ecuadorean border. He said the troops came under fire from across the border in Ecuador and encountered Reyes’ body when they overran that camp.

    So the Colombian troops were attacked from Ecuador – sounds like the restrictions the Democrats put on our troops during the Vietnam War when they were attacked from Cambodia and forbidden to defend themselves.

  • Chavez’ sabre rattling

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    Photo from Reuters

    Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez speaks during his weekly broadcast ‘Alo Presidente’ in Caracas March 2, 2008. Chavez ordered tank battalions to the Colombian border on Sunday after Colombian troops struck inside another of its neighbors, Ecuador, in an attack on rebels.

    The death of Raul Reyes, FARC’s second-in-command was welcomed throughout the civilized world as good news of a small victory over the 40-year old band of narco-terrorists who abandoned their Marxist roots long ago for the profits of drug-running and kidnapping. Some of the details came out this morning when the Colombian government admitted that it fired missiles across the border with Equador to hit the terrorists’ base. The Colombians had done so with the explicit permission of the Equadoran government, run by Chavez acolyte Rafael Correa.

    Babalu Blog writes that Chavez has ordered ten battalions of the Venezuelan Army to the Colombian frontier and the Miami Herald claims that Chavez says Correa is mobilizing his forces in Equador as well;

    Chavez called the Colombian government “a terrorist state” as he sided with the leftist rebels it has battled for decades, saying its military “invaded Ecuador, flagrantly violated Ecuador’s sovereignty.”

    Neither Colombia’s foreign minister nor the country’s military leadership would comment on Chavez’s latest move when pressed by reporters for comment Sunday as they left a funeral service in Bogota for a Colombian soldier killed in Saturday’s raid.

    Speaking in Texas, U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said officials were monitoring the situation.

    “This is an odd reaction by Venezuela to Colombia’s efforts against the FARC, a terrorist organization that continues to hold Colombians, Americans and others hostage,” Johndroe said.

    Chavez said he had just spoken to Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa and that Ecuador was also sending troops to its border with Colombia. Chavez said his Ecuadorean ally told him that Uribe had lied and that the rebels were killed while asleep “in their pajamas.”

    “This is something very serious. This could be the start of a war in South America,” Chavez said. He warned Colombian President Alvaro Uribe: “If it occurs to you to do this in Venezuela, President Uribe, I’ll send some Sukhois” – Russian warplanes recently bought by Venezuela.

    Kate at A Colombo-Americana’s Perspective writes that Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega has joined in the noise making;

    Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega condemned Colombia’s killing of a top rebel commander and said it could hurt the chances of a peace accord.

    Ortega, a former Marxist revolutionary and U.S. Cold War foe who was voted back to power in late 2006, called on Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to seek a peace process with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

    The Real Cuba quotes Chavez saying he wants to “liberate” Colombia from Uribe and that Uribe has turned Colombia into the Israel of Latin America;

    Upset at the death of FARC terrorist Raul Reyes at the hands of the Colombian army, Hugo Chávez accused the Colombian president of being a “criminal” and promised to “liberate” the neighboring country.

    “The Colombian government has become the Israel of Latin America,” an agitated Chavez said, mentioning another country that he has criticized for its military strikes. “We aren’t going to permit Colombia to become the Israel of these lands.”

    Chavez accused Colombian president Alvaro Uribe of being a puppet of Washington and acting on behalf of the U.S. government, saying “Dracula’s fangs are covered in blood.” “Some day Colombia will be freed from the hand of the (U.S.) empire,” Chavez said. “We have to liberate Colombia,” he added.

    The “Israel” of Latin America because they attack terrorists before the terrorists have a chance to attack them. I suppose a civilized nation might question why FARC terrorists were snoozing unmolested in Equador. But instead Chavez is upset that Colombia has snatched his publicity over the released hostages last week and feels a need to grab headlines again.

    Well, this explains why Chavez is buying tons of weapons from Russia as I wrote the other day. Kate wrote yesterday that Chavez announced the formation of “Bolivarian Police” that he can form from his loyal chavistas – also as I predicted the other day. Daniel at Venezuela News and Views writes that squatter shacks are multiplying, that food is harder to come by and that garbage is piling up – while Chavez puts Venezuelans in danger of a needless war.

    Ed Morrisey at Hot Air questions if this doesn’t mean that Chavez is admitting to an alliance with FARC terrorists. I think it’s much simpler than that – just Chavez getting more free press.

  • UN criticizes New Orleans displacements

    The United Nations, unable to stop real atrocities and emergencies worldwide (like their failure to feed Darfur refugees as reported by Bloodthirsty Liberal),  have shifted their disapproving gaze at their favorite human rights violator – the US (link to Wall Street Journal)

    This week, two Council “experts” — an American lawyer and an Indian architect — accused the Department of Housing and Urban Development of denying the “internationally recognized human rights” of New Orleans residents whose former homes in public housing complexes are scheduled for demolition. The demolitions, say the experts, “could effectively deny thousands of African-American residents their right to return to housing from which they were displaced by the hurricane.”

    The public housing in question includes the notorious 1930s-era St. Bernard complex, which was already in a bad state before Katrina hit and an even worse state after it. The local housing authority intends to replace the complex with mixed-income housing developments, and in the meantime is granting housing vouchers to former tenants. But some of the new housing will be offered at — horrors! — a “market rate,” to which the U.N. naturally objects. We don’t remember the U.N.’s human-rights czars being quite so vocal when Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe evicted 200,000 people from their homes in 2005.

    Well, the Mugabe example is probably the most glaring, but how many others can we cite over the past ten years? If HUD decides to evict the UN from Turtle Bay and give them some housing vouchers to set up their new headquarters in Zimbabwe, Venezuela or Iran, the decision would get thunderous applause from across the US.

  • FARC’s ex-hostages report on US captives

    Former Colombian Senator Luis Eladio Pérez reports that he was held along with the 3 Americans being detained by the Colombian Armed Revolutionary Front (FARC) and confirms that they are still alive, but injured from their plane crash five years ago(Miami Herald link);

    Pérez provided the first solid news on the health of the three American contractors. He said that Thomas Howes, 54, suffered a blow to the head during the crash “that gives him very strong recurring headaches. He’s got a problem with high blood pressure with very little medical treatment, almost none, and it’s very difficult to get drugs for high blood pressure.”

    Marc Gonsalves, 35, and Keith Stansell, 43, suffer from spine and knee problems from the accident, he added. He said Gonsalves recently contracted hepatitis.

    Perez claims that the Americans had tried to pass messages to him, but the messages were confiscated by FARC;

    Pérez also said that their captors, the FARC guerrillas, confiscated letters that the three Americans had given to Pérez to pass along to President Bush, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and presidential candidates Sens. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain.

    But let’s be more concerned about the treatment of Islamist terrorists in Guantanamo.

  • Delusional People are DANGEROUS

    A crazy homeless guy on the street is one thing, a crazy man with thousands of troops and weapons at his command is a whole different ballgame.
    “Everybody has understood that Iran is the number one power in the world,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech to families who lost loved ones in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.
    While, Ahmadinejad is clearly insane, his personal brand of insanity is far more dangerous than that of the kooks in Hollywood, at the DU, or even our own homegrown elected wingnuts like Ron Paul and Dennis (the menace) Kuchinich. Why? Because he has Iran’s sizable military at his command…

  • Chavez’ arms race

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    Photo from Associated Press

    Hugo Chavez took credit, once again, for negotiating the release of four more Colombian hostages from the Colombian Armed Revolutionary Front (FARC) yesterday – four out of at least 800 (since FARC and the Colobian people can’t seem to settle on a number between 50 and thousands – not to mention the Venezuelans that Chavez won’t admit have been kidnapped).

    Daniel at Venezuela News and Views recounts the entire event from in front of his television in Caracas and observes;

    …the hostage release was the most important item in Chavez agenda now that success is so scarce for him.

    Colombian president Uribe wasn’t quite so unforgiving of FARC (Reuters link);

    “The FARC should understand the Colombian people expect them to release all the hostages in their power,” Uribe said in a television address in which he thanked Chavez.

    Uribe, whose father was killed in a botched FARC kidnapping, is popular at home for a U.S.-backed military offensive that has forced the rebels from swathes of Colombia.

    Meanwhile, the Miami Herald tells the story of Chavez arms purchases from Vlad Putin;

    Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is purchasing ”three or four times” more weapons than he needs, a top U.S. intelligence chief said Wednesday, but there is no evidence so far he is providing arms to Colombian guerrillas.

    […]

    At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Florida Republican Sen. Mel Martinez, asked if Chávez’s recent weapons purchases, especially the assault rifles, exceeded Venezuela’s defense needs.

    ”Yes, sir,” McConnell responded, “probably three or four times more than what he would need.”

    When asked if Chávez could use the surplus to ”destabilize neighboring governments, particularly Colombia” and assist Colombia’s left-wing FARC guerrillas, McConnell said: “Could very well be.”

    […]

    From Russia, Chávez has purchased the assault rifles, a munitions factory, 53 helicopters — including a dozen Mi-17 military helicopters — and 14 SU-30MK fighters.

    McConnell added that on the purchase of the assault rifles, ”one of the thoughts is [Chávez] forming an internal militia to enforce his authoritarian rule.” But when pressed if Chávez meant to arm his supporters to stifle domestic opposition, Maples said that he hasn’t seen any evidence of it.

    But, that’s what Noriega did in Panama when he began to lose control of the Panamanian people – he formed the Dignity Battalions, armed them with old weapons from the Guardia Nacional and gave them free rein to wander the streets and literally beat the opposition bloody.

    Francisco Rodriguez, formerly Chavez’ chief economist, warns of “An Empty Revolution” in Foreign Affairs magazine;

    Chávez’s political success does not stem from the achievements of his social programs or from his effectiveness at redistributing wealth. Rather, through a combination of luck and manipulation of the political system, Chávez has faced elections at times of strong economic growth, currently driven by an oil boom bigger than any since the 1970s.

    Like voters everywhere, Venezuelans tend to vote their pocketbooks, and until recently, this has meant voting for Chávez. But now, his mismanagement of the economy and failure to live up to his pro-poor rhetoric have finally started to catch up with him. With inflation accelerating, basic foodstuffs increasingly scarce, and pervasive chronic failures in the provision of basic public services, Venezuelans are starting to glimpse the consequences of Chávez’s economic policies — and they do not like what they see.

    So while Chavez scores huge political points with foreign interests (like FARC, China and Iran) he slowly losing his grip on Venezuela’s internal electoral process – and buying weapons. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to do the math on this one.

  • Cuban reform hopes

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    Photo from Frontpage Magazine

    So who is Raul Castro, the man that the media has crowned the Cuban Gorbachov? Well he is a little different from his predecessor, Fidel according to Frontpage Magazine’s Humberto Fontova;

    The stories leaking out regarding the “Revolutionary justice” practiced in Raul’s front, though completely ignored by the foreign media throng, were causing a bit of grumbling in the Cuban press. Fidel requested that Raul please cut down on the firing squad bloodbaths, as it could hurt the image Fidel was so expertly crafting of their “humanistic rebellion,” with the eager help of  media dupes and acolytes.

    Raul’s response is what caused Fidel’s sputtering to his assistant. “Got your message and will take immediate corrective measures,” Raul responded to his brother. “No more bloodbath. From now on we’ll start hanging the counter-revolutionaries.”

    Charming fellow, eh? From Marc Masferrer at Uncommon Sense;

    His Air Force carried out the Canimar River Massacre of July 6, 1980, when dozens were murdered. Many more unarmed civilians are believed to have suffered similar fate at the hand of special Air Force units dedicated to spotting and sinking rafts. Like countless others, on January 19, 1994, two young men -Iskander Maleras and Luis Angel Valverde- were killed by Cuban border guards stationed around the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo operating under Raúl’s direct orders to shoot. He rewarded their deed with medals and promotions.

    I’ll grant, that may all be ancient history – 10 or 15 years ago, but how about last weekend? This also from Marc Masferrer, but on Babalu Blog;

     Julián Armando Soto, a gay rights activist in Havana, reports that Cuban police Saturday rounded up 34 homosexuals for “putting in danger” security for a Mass being said by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. At the time of the arrests, the detainees were either gathered in a park or in front of a movie theater.

    So Human Rights Watch ought to be all over this right? However I don’t see anything about it on the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender page.

    So while AFP ponders Cuba’s “uncertain post Fidel era“, it doesn’t appear that much will change.