Colombia beefs up forces on border with Venezuela

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

The Colombian government has announced it is building a new military base on its border with Venezuela and has activated six new airborne battalions.

Relations between the two nations are at a historic low with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez already telling his generals to prepare for war.

He moved 15,000 more troops up to the border, accusing Colombia and its ally, the US, of planning an attack.

A BBC correspondent says the potential for conflict is heightened.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8423029.stm

[Crowman1979]

1. Why are we even allies with Columbia?

Seriously, is their any point other than to provide funding to the CIA's covert operations?

[COLGATE4]

2. A few good reasons

- Strategic military interest. (Caribbean sea lanes and Panama Canal)
- One of the oldest stable democracies in Latin America
- Very pro US population
= Choke point for drug production/drug distribution to US
= Fighting a Marxist insurgency for the past 40 years

[roody]

4. Democracy!? Don't criticize Uribe!

[Judi Lynn]

3. VENEZUELA-COLOMBIA: Paramilitaries Rule Border Area

VENEZUELA-COLOMBIA: Paramilitaries Rule Border Area
By Humberto Márquez

SAN ANTONIO DEL TÁCHIRA, Venezuela, Dec 20 (IPS) - "We’re second-class citizens, victims of a war that hasn’t broken out," said José Duque from behind the wheel of a car carrying passengers from San Cristóbal, in southwestern Venezuela, to the border with the northeastern region of Colombia, near the city of Cúcuta.

Along the way, winding through the Andes mountains 700 kilometres southwest of Caracas, gasoline stations are besieged by endless lines of vehicles, whose drivers are resigned to waiting two, three, even four hours to fill their tanks.

Duque has a list of complaints almost as long as the gas line-ups. "Where I live we have blackouts for several hours every night. A lot of days we have no running water. When you make a living on these highways you’re in constant danger of getting robbed, or being forced to pay bribes. And on top of everything, this oil-exporting country sabotages our work by rationing gasoline."

Gasoline is a source of massive cross-border smuggling activity. Authorities in both countries estimate that more than 10,000 barrels (1.6 million litres) are smuggled daily from Venezuela into Colombia, where gasoline is sold at 15, 20 or 25 times the price in Venezuela, which has the world's cheapest gasoline.

A community leader from the city of San Antonio del Táchira, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Carlos, told IPS that Colombian "mafias" like the Black Eagles, made up of former members of far-right paramilitary groups in Colombia, "have controlled the smuggling of gasoline, food and plastic products from Venezuela to Colombia for years, and also the smuggling of goods from there to here."

More:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49760

As we know, the paras have deep ties to the Colombian government, going back for years, made clear in statements rom various groups like Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, and many others. Incidently, human rights workers themselves are targets in Colombia.

[IndianaGreen]

5. Colombia 'facing foreign threat'

Neocon wars did not end when Bush left office, on the contrary, they have intensified under Obama.

Colombia 'facing foreign threat'

Colombia's defence minister has said that his country is facing a foreign military threat for the first time in years.

Gabriel Silva made the remarks in an interview with El Tiempo newspaper on Sunday, a day after Bogota announced it would build a new military base near its border with Venezuela.

Tensions between Bogota and Caracas have soared since Colombia signed a deal giving US troops greater access to seven military bases for anti-drug operations.

Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, says the presence of US troops in his Latin American neighbour poses a threat to his country and has ordered his forces to "prepare for war".

He has also restricted trade with Colombia as the dispute between the two nations has grown increasingly bitter.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/12/20091220172537513179.html