Chavez Says Allies Met With Colombian Rebels

[Zorro]

Source: ABC News

President Hugo Chavez revealed for the first time on Sunday that some of his political allies have collaborated with Colombia's guerrillas in the past but he said he warned them to stop because it could give Washington an excuse to attack Venezuela.

Chavez said he contacted radical government supporters who had met with the leftist rebels, presumably to tell them to stop collaborating with groups that Colombia and U.S. officials consider terrorist.

The Venezuelan president didn't say exactly who was supporting the rebels.

"On one occasion they were meeting with Colombian guerrillas, and they were making plans to set up some bases for Colombian rebels in Venezuela behind all of our backs," Chavez said during a May Day speech to supporters in Caracas. "They don't realize it's the perfect excuse for imperialism to attack the people of Venezuela."

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=13501812

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Looks like those reports of collaboration between FARC and the Venezuelan government were true.

Chavez' remarks sound similar to Reagan's about Iran-Contra.

[naaman fletcher]

1. That being said,

Almost every day we see a story that can only be interpreted as Santos and Chavez both taking extraordinary steps to repair relations, which is a good thing.

[AlphaCentauri]

2. Saint Reagan didn't stop the colaboration did he?

[COLGATE4]

3. I seem to vaguely recall some posts on DU insisting that Chavez

(and his functionaries) had never collaborated with the FARC.