Colombia refuses third-country verification of rebels' presence in Venezuela

[Judi Lynn]

Colombia refuses third-country verification of rebels' presence in Venezuela
16:55, August 13, 2010

Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin ruled out the possibility of a third country's verification to determine whether there are Colombian rebel camps in Venezuela, El Tiempo newspaper said Thursday.

"We are looking forward. We are going to see which security mechanisms we will enforce," Holguin was quoted as saying.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez cut ties with Colombia on July 22 after Bogota accused Caracas of sheltering left-wing Colombian rebels. However, diplomatic relations were restored after Chavez met with Colombia's newly inaugurated President Juan Manuel Santos.

Holguin said she was to meet with her Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro on Aug. 20 and discuss the establishment of five commissions reached during the two presidents' meeting.

http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90852/7104337.html

[bemildred]

1. Bwaaahaaahaaa!

"Don't bother me with facts, my mind's made up."

It does not seem to me that Ms Holguin is actually in a position to control whether there is 3rd party verification of the facts or not, but this is politics and pretense is the rule, not the exception.

[gbscar]

2. I'd assume she knows Venezuela has just about said "no" and thus it would be pointless to insist

...but here's the original interview for those wanting some context as opposed to focusing on a single phrase.

http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-4094293

[rabs]

3. A little background on Maria Angela Holguin

Alvarito was reported to have been really pissed when JM Santos named her as his foreign minister. Her creds are impressive and a lot of Colombians agree it was a shrewd move by JM Santos.

Holguin highly embarrassed uribito in 2004 when she quit her (uribito nominated) post as Colombian ambassador to the United Nations. She quit because she refused to accept uribista stooges who were being assigned to plum U.N. posts. The stooges were unqualified to be diplomats and usually were the sons of alvarito's pals.

From 2002-2004, also during the uribito years, she was been Colombian ambassador to Venezuela and while she was there, relations between the neighbors flourished. In fact Hugo Chavez lavished praise on her at the summit in Santa Marta on Tuesday.


She and Venezuelan FornMin Maduro laid the groundwork for the Chavez/Santos meeting, with Nestor Kirchner representing UNASUR.

The summit produced a five-point agreement. Point five stipulates that both countries will cooperate in steming the cross-border flow of "illegal groups" into Venezuela. That means FARC-EP, ELN, Colombian paramilitaries, narco-traffickers, smugglers and just plain criminals.

Don't know if it was reported in English-language media, but at the news conference after the meeting, Chavez called on the FARC to give it up and negotiate an end to the insurgency. He said "this is no longer the 1960s."

Chavez cited other leftist insurgency leaders who laid down their weapons, joined the political processes in their countries and are now presidents -- Ortega of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, Funes of the FMLN in El Salvador, "Pepe" Mujica of the Tupamaros in Uruguay, and even mentioned Kirchner who was sitting nearby. But Chavez joked to Kirchner, "Ah, but you were not a guerrilla. You were a Peronista."

Returning to the verification issue; at this very early stage, what will happen is up in the air. It could turn out okay, but any type of incident or mouthing off by Santos or any of his people (about Venezuela harboring guerrillas) could bring the whole pact crashing down, as Chavez warned before and at the summit.

I suspect that if there is anyone who can keep it all together, it will be Holguin.

------------------
Why Hugo Chavez had such effusive praise for Holguin:

http://www.zimbio.com/Maria+Angela+Holguin/articles/4J9l2SieaNP/Maria+Angela+Holguin+Resume

[bemildred]

4. Yes, I was unfair to Ms Holguin. nt