Saturday, May 31, 2008

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has been caught

The New York Times, 25 de mayo de 2008
President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela has been caught.
Despite his protestations of innocence, Interpol has corroborated the authenticity of thousands of computer files captured during a Colombian Army raid on a FARC rebel camp in Venezuela. Only a small share of this trove has been released, but it leaves little doubt that Venezuela has been aiding the guerrillas’ effort to overthrow Colombia’s democratically elected government. The Colombian government released documents from the computers that suggest Venezuelan intelligence officials tried to secure weapons for the FARC and that Mr. Chávez’s government offered the rebels oil and a $250 million loan. Information in the files has already led to the seizure of FARC funds in Costa Rica.
Colombia can now take the issue to the Organization of American States, the United Nations Security Council or the International Court of Justice. But it might need further corroborating evidence, as Interpol only certified that the Colombian government did not tamper with the files but said nothing about the veracity of their content. Mr. Chávez has a more important choice to make: he can sink once and for all into the role of regional pariah, to be contained or isolated in the name of regional stability, or he can commit to becoming a responsible neighbor. All of his neighbors, and all Venezuelans, should urge him to choose the latter course.
Responsibility means that Mr. Chávez must halt all aid to the FARC — which long ago chose drug trafficking over political liberation — and use his influence to get the rebels to lay down their arms and join the demobilization process that is under way for Colombia’s right-wing paramilitary groups.
Mr. Chávez’s posturing as a populist liberator is wearing thin at home, where voters defeated his proposal to overhaul the Constitution so he could stay in power indefinitely. It is also wearing thin abroad, where Mr. Chávez has used Venezuela’s oil riches to meddle in Argentina, Bolivia and Nicaragua, among others. Latin America’s leaders need to realize that his actions threaten the stability of the entire region and that cheap oil does not lessen that threat. They need to remind Mr. Chávez of the commitment to nonintervention and democratic rule in the Organization of American States charter. And they need to make clear that he has only two possible moves from here: he can become a responsible neighbor or be ostracized in the hemisphere.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/opinion/25sun2.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=venezuela&st=cse&oref=slogin

Labels: , ,

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Does Mr. Zarcozy read the New York Times? Maybe he should, before he goes further in asking for the intervention of Chavez on behalf of the one french citizen to be liberated at the cost of legitimizing the terrorist drug cartel known as FARC.

01 June, 2008 08:28  
Blogger David Blomstrom said...

I'm a candidate for public office who's using my campaign in part to support Hugo Chavez, one of the greatest heroes of our generation.

You implied that Chavez isn't well liked in Argentina, Bolivia and Nicaragua. In fact, those are three of his closest allies! He's also on good terms with Brazil, Latin America's largest, most powerful nation.

And how long are George W. Bush and his cronies going to get away with exploiting terrorism? For crying out loud, the biggest terrorist on the planet is GEORGE BUSH.

David Blomstrom
Viva Chavez!

01 June, 2008 17:47  

Post a Comment

Links to this post:

Create a Link

<< Home