[Marxism] Bush and Uribe v. Chavez and Correa

[Greg McDonald <sabocat59@xxxxxxx>]

Full: http://www.countercurrents.org/print.html

Bush And Uribe v. Chavez And Correa

By Stephen Lendman

11 March, 2008
Countercurrents.org

Call it another salvo in Bush v. Chavez with Ecuador's Raphael Correa  
as a secondary target and Colombia's Alvaro Uribe as a proxy  
aggressor. The Ecuadorean incursion was no ordinary cross-border  
raid. It was a made in Washington affair that escalates a nine year  
attempt to remove the Venezuelan leader and return oligarchs in the  
country to power. It also threatens two regional leaders who know  
what they're up against in Uribe and Washington, "friendly"  
handshakes in the Dominican Republic notwithstanding. The situation  
is far from settled, and here's how events unfolded so far:

-- on March 1, the Colombian military illegally entered Ecuadorean  
air space and invaded on the ground; the target was a FARC-EP rebel  
camp; US intelligence was key by identifying the precise location to  
bomb through satellite telephone tracking; Colombian Radio Cadena  
Nacional (RCN) reported it heard a FARC-EP leader - Chavez  
conversation three days before the raid; Colombian Noticias Uno TV  
said "foreign spy planes" photographed FARC-EP's precise location for  
the country's military to use in the raid;

-- it's also known that US Special Forces train Colombian  
counterinsurgents, accompany them on missions, and likely  
participated (covertly) in the March 1 operation;

-- Colombian (and likely US) forces attacked and slaughtered over 20  
people in total, including 16 Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia  
(FACR-EP) members while they slept;

-- among the dead was FARC-EP's second-in-command, Raul Reyes; he was  
FARC-EP's public voice, its key peace negotiator since the 1990s, and  
the lead figure in the Chavez-arranged hostage releases; that and his  
prominence made him a target so his death may disrupt the process and  
current efforts toward resolving a 40 year conflict equitably;  
Washington wants it halted, so does Uribe, and that's where things  
now stand;

-- Hugo Chavez and other Latin American leaders were united in  
condemning the hostile act; the 35-member Organization of American  
States, however, was tepid in its formal March 5 response; Correa  
called it welcome but inadequate and insists on a formal  
condemnation; Chavez was even more forceful saying: "We demand  
condemnation of the Colombian government for this aberrant act," he  
called it a "war crime (and blamed the crisis on the US) empire and  
its lackeys;"

-- ahead of the March 7 Dominican Republic XX Rio Group Summit of  
Latin American leaders, foreign ministers from Chile, Argentina,  
Mexico, Brazil and Peru issued a statement demanding respect for  
their national sovereignty; Chavez called the meeting "positive" and  
advocated "cooling tensions;" he supported Ecuador and said: "We  
don't want war;"

-- Chavez, Correa and Uribe exchanged cool handshakes and pro forma  
conciliatory statements at the Summit; for what it's worth, Uribe  
issued a "formal apology" to the Ecuadorean government and its  
people; call it disingenuous diplomacy; it settles nothing in spite  
of how the media played it or that Venezuela and Colombia restored  
diplomatic ties; for his part, Correa said it will be "difficult to  
recover trust" and reestablishing normal relations "will take a  
little time;"

-- one example of media coverage came from correspondent Simon Romero  
of The New York Times; he's always disingenuous and never neutral; he  
reported "handshakes and warm embraces....ended the dispute" as  
though nothing ever happened and it's again business as usual; in  
fact, nothing is settled; the incident still simmers, it's just a  
matter of time before the next one erupts, and Chavez, Correa and  
other regional leaders know it; so does Washington that plans them;

-- earlier, Chavez also called Colombia the "Israel of Latin America"  
saying both countries claimed "a supposed right to defense," to bomb  
and invade neighbors on orders from Washington;

-- Uribe confirmed it by saying he "refused to rule out future  
military incursions into Ecuador or Venezuela," so expect more  
provocations ahead with full Washington backing;

-- at the same time, huge crowds of Colombians at home and abroad  
marched for peace and against terrorist acts; they denounced violence  
on both sides and want it ended, but a new disturbing report came out:

-- the Colombia weekly Semana wrote that ex-Israeli military men are  
fighting guerrilla organizations (meaning the FARC-EP and ELN), and  
Defense Minister Juan Santos confirmed that "A group of former  
Israeli military officials (including three senior generals, a lower  
ranking officer and three translators) is counseling the military's  
top brass on intelligence issues;" in addition, FARC-EP claims that  
Israeli commandos were engaged against them along with US and British  
forces.

The hostile words followed with Ecuadorean officials citing  
irrefutable evidence that Uribe's attack was premeditated and his  
worst ever aggression against their country. Correa expressed  
"outrage" and sees no negotiated settlement because "there is nothing  
to negotiate." In Brazil for a meeting with Lula da Silva, he said  
Ecuador is prepared to go "up to the ultimate consequences (over this  
even though) nobody wants war. But we won't fool ourselves. The war  
was started by Colombia. We were bombed."

Correa and Chavez both deployed troops to their borders, and each  
country went further. Ecuador severed diplomatic ties with its  
neighbor, and Correa called Uribe Washington's "unconditional puppet"  
for his blatant act of aggression. Chavez also expelled Colombia's  
ambassador, and called the strike "a cowardly murder, all of it  
coldly calculated" and planned in Washington. He also warned Colombia  
against similar Venezuelan incursions that he would interpret as a  
"cause for war."

Uribe, in turn, defiantly shot back that Colombia will charge Chavez  
in the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for materially  
aiding the FARC-EP by "sponsor(ing) and funding genocidal" groups.  
Colombia's Radio Caracol then reported Uribe intends to "revise" or  
"examine" his charges with no further details given. And on the same  
day Vice-President Francisco Santos Calderon provocatively indicated  
that relations with Correa "may be recovered," but it will be "very  
difficult" to reach a diplomatic solution with Chavez. He and Uribe  
have long been antagonists and have been at odds for months over  
Chavez's hostage mediating success that embarrassed the Colombian  
president and Washington in the process.

Colombian officials heightened tensions further through  
misstatements. First, they claimed bombings occurred on their own  
territory. Then they changed the story saying: "Colombia has not  
violated any sovereignty, (we) only acted in accordance with the  
principle of legitimate defense," and responded to fire from inside  
Ecuador.

Both statements were untrue and Chavez reacted. He accused Uribe of  
lying and called him a "criminal" saying: "Not only is he a liar, a  
mafia boss, a paramilitary who leads a narco-government (that's) a  
lackey of the United States (but he also) leads a band of criminals  
from his palace."

The war of words continues with Washington's OAS ambassador, Robert  
Manzanares, accusing FARC-EP of "undertak(ing) repeated incursions  
and infringements of national sovereignty (against Colombia's)  
neighbors." Defense Secretary Robert Gates "applauded" Uribe's  
action, and when asked if US intelligence supported it said: "Well, I  
would just say that we are very supportive."

George Bush joined in, and jumped to his ally's defense. Well he  
should as Washington provides Colombia with over $600 million a year  
and all for one purpose - to support repression and the interests of  
capital at the expense of beneficial social change. On March 4, Bush  
phoned Uribe with assurances "America fully supports Colombia's  
democracy (and) firmly opposes any acts of aggression that could  
destabilize the region." He also called sending Venezuelan troops to  
the border "provocative maneuvers."

In addition, he used the crisis to push Congress to approve a trade  
deal that's been stalled over issues of Uribe's paramilitary links  
and the country's human rights record. Bush did what he always does.  
He cited national security and said ratification is a way to counter  
leaders like Chavez who destabilize the region. "If we fail to  
approve this agreement, we will let down our close ally, we will  
damage our credibility (and) will embolden the demagogues in our  
hemisphere."

Consider comments as well from US presidential candidates. On March  
3, Barack Obama said: "The Colombian people have suffered for more  
than four decades at the hands of a brutal terrorist insurgency, and  
the Colombian government has every right to defend itself against  
the...FARC."

Hillary Clinton was even more hostile stating: "Hugo Chavez's order  
yesterday to send ten battalions to the Colombian border is  
unwarranted and dangerous. (Colombia) has every right to defend  
itself against drug trafficking terrorist organizations that have  
kidnapped innocent civilians, including American citizens. By  
praising and supporting the (FARC-EP), Chavez is openly siding with  
terrorists that threaten Colombian democracy and the peace and  
security in the region. (Chavez) must call a halt to this provocative  
action. As president, I will....press Chavez to change course."

Then there's John McCain who even scares some in the Pentagon and is  
virulently hostile to Chavez. He calls him a "wacko" and "two-bit- 
dictator" and advocates his ouster "in the name of democracy and  
freedom throughout the hemisphere." As president, he'd be the most  
likely to provoke a confrontation because he's ideologically  
committed to militarism "to confront a range of security  
challenges....in a dangerous world." 
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