Venezuela giving guns to FARC, official says

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Thu, Aug. 04, 2005

SOUTH AMERICA

Venezuela giving guns to FARC, official says

A U.S. official assailed Venezuela for supporting Colombian rebels with weapons. The Venezuelan Embassy did not respond to the allegation.

BY GEORGE GEDDA
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - A top State Department official said Wednesday that Venezuela is destabilizing its border area with Colombia by supplying weapons to the country's main leftist insurgency.

Another State Department official later clarified to The Herald that the statement made by Nicholas Burns, the department's third-ranking official, to The Associated Press did not refer to the government of President Hugo Chávez but to Venezuela in general.
(snip)

Bush administration officials have said in the past that weapons are regularly smuggled from Venezuela to Colombian guerrillas, but stopped far short of accusing the leftist government of Chávez of doing so as a matter of policy.

Some of the weapons smuggling has been blamed on Venezuelan police, soldiers and national guardsmen, but for personal profit.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/12297816.htm
(Free registration is required)

Nicholas Burns appears to be stepping up as the State Department's next John Bolton, taking over hurling charges and threats in his absence. In the first photo, he's to Condi Rice's right.





Nice try. It's already been done to death.

[bahrbearian]

1. " U.S. official assailed Venezuela for supporting Colombian rebels"

Is that Bolton talking again?

[Shipwack]

2. Well...

I for one welcome our new gun toting overlords... wait, never mind... wrong Fark.

[Tempest]

3. Evening the playing field

If the U.S. can interfer by supplying the Columbian government with arms, why can't Venezuela (or any other country) supply the freedom fighters (Reagan's term)?

[SlavesandBulldozers]

4. the doublespeak boggles the mind

this doesn't look good. this pattern looks very familiar.

[PurityOfEssence]

5. Damn that Clinton for not leaving a big enough military to fuck everybody

How dare he not prepare for world conquest; the man's a fool.

To date, we've run two coups against the man--including one where he was taken offshore as a captive--and a recall attempt. We want to ratfuck Chavez more than can be expressed.

Personally, I think it's just Junior's jealousy of another self-made man.

[WMliberal]

6. they heard from a guy who knows this guy who doesn't like this guy

who Washington doesn't like either.

Sound journalism :eyes:

[MisterP]

7. Bolton is a walrus: he claps his hands and shouts "AUC, AUC, AUC, AUC!"

[getmeouttahere]

8. Do I have to say it? I don't believe anything BushCo says...

www.handsoffvenezuela.org

[MGKrebs]

9. "the statement... did not refer to the government of President Hugo Chávez

... but to Venezuela in general."

I call BULLSHIT! You can't say "Venezuela is" doing something without at least trying to implicate the government.

In a responsible and respectable State Department, that punk would be relegated to some job in the basement of a building far from where decisions are made, IF he got to keep a government job at all.