Colombian President to Visit Bush's Ranch

[meganmonkey]

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush plans to host the president of Colombia at his Texas ranch on Aug. 4, the White House announced Tuesday.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Bush and President Alvaro Uribe would discuss the spread of democracy and economic opportunity, the war against terror and efforts to control drug trafficking.

Bush reserves invitations to his private ranch in Crawford, Texas, for only a few foreign leaders. Four others have visited this year - Mexican President Vicente Fox, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah.

Bush visited Uribe in Colombia last November as part of a three-day Latin American trip aimed at improving the U.S. image in the region.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5136133,00.html

[kenny blankenship]

1. Probably trying to draw Uribe into war with Venezuela

or a sustained program of subversion and terrorism. Oh yeah, we use terrorism in this hemisphere when we feel like it. Ask anybody south of Mexico.

Actually in a quick check on Uribe, it appears he is not squeamish about using terrorism himself.

[meganmonkey]

4. I think you're right

I found this gem for a little background:

- According to local Colombian authorities and inhabitants, Venezuelan officers broke into Colombian territory chasing a vehicle stolen in Venezuelan territory. They were attacked by Colombian paramilitary, which resulted in a clash that forced villagers to run away from the place.

- Venezuela rejected claims that its National Armed Force has conducted operations in Colombian territory, saying such accusations are a mere "media maneuver" from Colombian rebel armed groups, said Venezuelan Ambassador to Colombia, Carlos Santiago. Santiago formally accused Colombian paramilitary groups of violating the Venezuelan territorial sovereignty and killing seven National Guard troops. "Whenever a meeting between the two presidents (Hugo Chávez and Alvaro Uribe) is scheduled or drugs are seized, the Colombian rebels invent this kind of stories. They use civilian people to back their story and create media scandals," Santiago explained. He was referring to the recent seizure of 4,000 tons of cocaine from Colombia in Venezuela.

--snip--

- Meanwhile, President Chavez said that evidence in an investigation on recent attacks to Venezuelan military posts in the border area with Colombia points to members of Colombia's outlawed right-wing militias. According to Chávez, Colombian paramilitary groups were behind the killings of four National Guard soldiers. Chavez also said that Colombian officers were behind the killing of a top member of Venezuela's intelligence police.

- Roy Chaderton-Matos, Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that besides dealing with border incidents prudently, as President Uribe has suggested, the cooperation of Colombia's government is needed to reinforce the presence of authorities in the frontier area. Asked about Uribe's declaration, the Venezuelan minister said: "Prudence is what we have had in the last 50 years of Colombian violence overflowing to our territory." "Each time that there is any incident (on the border) some sectors linked to the Colombian far-right counterattack with accusations in order to deviate the attention," Chaderton said.

http://www.vcrisis.com/index.php?content=letters/200401031605

[asjr]

2. The kiss of death for Colombia!

[FlemingsGhost]

3. Uribe gets to drop by, only because he's got the best blow

Speaking of which, I'm sure they'll have some ... *ahem*... "business" to discuss.