Colombia to extradite Walid Makled to Venezuela

[Judi Lynn]

CARACAS, Tuesday November 16, 2010
Colombia to extradite Walid Makled to Venezuela
“I gave my word and after the required legal proceedings, he will be extradited to Venezuela. I am a man of my word,” the Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos informed on Tuesday that his government would extradite Syrian-born businessman Walid Makled to Venezuela. Makled has been accused of drug trafficking.

During the presentation of his report entitled "100 Days in Office," Santos said that he had made that commitment to his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez.

"I gave my word and after the required legal proceedings, he will be extradited to Venezuela. I am a man of my word," Santos said, as reported by the TV news channel Telesur.

"We will await the ruling of the Supreme Court of Justice and when we have its approval we will extradite him," the Colombian president said. Santos added that the legal proceeding takes between six and 18 months, AFP reported.

More:
http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/11/16/en_pol_esp_colombia-to-extradit_16A4737111.shtml
Opposition newspaper

[Peace Patriot]

1. What a howler that extradition from Colombia takes 6 to 18 months!

Alvaro Uribe and U.S./Bushwhack ambassador to Colombia, William Brownfield, last year accomplished it virtually OVERNIGHT, when it came to extraditing death squad witnesses to the U.S., to bury them in the U.S. federal prison system--out of the reach of Colombian prosecutors and over their objections--by completely sealing their cases in the U.S. federal court in Washington DC!

One day they were there. The next day they were gone.

My suspicion: Bushwhack involvement in the death squads.

Blackwater was recently "fined" by the U.S. State Department for "unauthorized" "trainings" of "foreign persons" (don't know who) IN COLOMBIA "for use in Iraq and Afghanistan." I think this may be part of a coordinated cover-up of Bushwhack authorization of war crimes in Colombia--one of the other parts being this overnight spiriting of death squad witnesses--witnesses that Colombian prosecutors were counting on--out of the country, and yet another part being the Uribe/Brownfield secretly negotiated U.S./Colombia military agreement which included a provision for TOTAL DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY for all U.S. soldiers and all U.S. military 'contractors' in Colombia.

Don't know for sure. Just sayin'--I smell some rats. And it's pretty funny-smelling, as well, that it takes 6 to 18 months to extradite a mere drug trafficker to Venezuela!

[Bacchus39]

2. it has to be approved by the Colombian court system

but Colombia is doing Venezuela a big favor since this dude was going to rat out Ven military and administration officials and gave a million dollar donation to Chavez's campaign in exchange for a concession at Puerto Cabello to ship the drugs.

[Peace Patriot]

3. Yeah, right. Tell us another one, Bacchus!

Chavez is so corrupt!

:rofl:

[Bacchus39]

4. yes, I know he is

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/11/16/colombia.extradition/index.html

Makled, who denies U.S. accusations of drug trafficking, said in an October interview with Venezuela's El Nacional newspaper that he paid millions of dollars to government officials and top military brass and has the vouchers and bank account numbers to prove it.

Makled, whose family owned a shipping business, has said he made the payments to be allowed to operate at some of the nation's largest ports.

"On my payroll I had ministers, the siblings of ministers, generals, admirals, rear admirals, colonels and five deputies from the National Assembly, each of whom I gave a late-model car to," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

"If I am a narcotrafficker, the whole Chavez government is a narcotrafficker."

Makled also has said he contributed $2 million to Chavez for a political campaign.

[Peace Patriot]

6. Sounds like a lot of hot air to me!

He wanted to be extradited to the U.S.--and get "buried" in the U.S. federal prison system on mere drug trafficking charges (he's wanted for two murders in Venezuela!)--and he said what he thought would get him favorable treatment here.

He's probably CIA-connected. They've been running dope for decades. And they more than likely had this ally/operative in Venezuela for the very purpose of making such charges (if not for worse). Reminds me of "Guido" and the suitcase full of money out of Miami--it makes no sense and is not believable. The Chavez government SHUT DOWN this perp's dirty businesses. That's when he fled to Colombia. So he has reason to hate them. And why would the Chavez government shut him down if the Chavez government is run by dirty operatives? If there is anything to his story at all, it's likely that it was rogue operatives in the government and/or military operating AT ODDS WITH the Chavez govenrment. Again, why would Chavez shut him down if Chavez was benefiting?

Why would the Chavez government send $700,000 cold cash in a suitcase, using the Miami mafia to do so (!), through customs in Argentina (!)--as a political contribution to leftist Cristina Fernandez's campaign--when they could have taken it on Chavez's presidential jet, with diplomatic immunity, the next day (when Chavez visited Argentina)?!

IT MADE NO SENSE. Nor does this.

I don't trust this at all. Don't trust CNN. Don't trust the drug lord. Don't trust Santos. And don't trust you.

The Colombian government and the U.S. have tried every goddamned trick in the book to smear Chavez. Buying some internal perps in Venezuela and running a drug operation would be SOP. And I'm plenty sick of this smear campaign. Why can't the U.S. confront Venezuela on open ground? Because the U.S. and its real rulers are dirty, dirty, dirty--whether it's non-transparent vote counting with 'TRADE SECRET' code, or the "war on drugs," or the "war on terror," or war profiteering in general, or looting public services and resources and workers in poor Latin American countries, and looting us, now, as well, in every way imaginable, or the mass murder that has been occurring in Colombia and now in Honduras, and in Iraq, and in Afghanistan, to benefit U.S. multinationals. They can't afford to meet a "New Deal"-type government, such as Chavez's, on open ground. The poor in Venezuela are their enemy. Chavez is an advocate of the poor, is beholden to the poor majority and acts in their interest. So he has to be taken down by "dirty tricks" or by any means possible. Because the poor everywhere, and the poor here, are their "enemy." The poor have a couple of pennies, or a few dollars, to contribute to their ungodly wealth, and the means must be found to steal those pennies and those few dollars--or the poor have a vote in an oil state, or they have a vote here--or had one that was once counted--and the means must be found to deny them a voice in government, whether by murdering their leaders and terrorizing them, as the rightwing does in Colombia--and now in Honduras--or by 'TRADE SECRET' vote counting, here, or by USAID millions to rightwing groups and "dirty tricks" and God knows what else in Venezuela.

That's what I see in this. More bullshit. "Chavez the dictator" didn't work. "Chavez the terrorist-lover" didn't work. Now it's "Chavez the corrupt."

That's why I'm laughing. It's just so absurd.

:rofl:

[rabs]

5. Makled is a real thorn for all involved

-- Santos had dealt a slap in the face to hillary/obama in favoring extradition to Colombia instead of the United States. This probably means that the FTA agreement will wither on the vine and could affect Plan Colombia funding. Would imagine hillary and company are re-evualating the "friendship" of Santos as compared to the groveling uribe. Of course Santos said the extradition now depended on the legal system, so it could be all show and a delying tactic.

-- If Makled is extradited to the United States, he has said he will spill all he knows about his alleged payments to high officials in the Chavez administration. Hil/Obama would then turn up the heat on Chavez.

-- If Makled is sent to Venezuela, Hil/Obama will get a taste of how extradited Colombian narco-para-traffickers were silenced about crimes back in Colombia.

-- Makled, if convicted in Venezuela on trafficking and murder charges will land in prison and all his alleged charges of payola to Chavez administration officials will never see the light.

Video in Spanish of Makled saying he paid off Chavez officials (Chavez himself is never mentioned in the video or any of the news reports that I have seen).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdv3n18Od24

[Bacchus39]

7. a thorn for Chavez for sure

the FTA will likely not happen because the US population doesn't have an appetite for more free trade deals. Colombia has denied extraditions of other wanted criminals so its not the first time.

sending him to the US would have likely sent Chavez into another tantrum and broken off relations once again. Colombia wants to continue trade as the balance is in their favor so sending him to Ven is the path of least resistance and its unlikely to affect overall bilateral relations with the US. its no skin off Colombia's back.

Colombian narcotraffickers can still spill the beans in the US. in fact, since in Colombia it would be more likely they would be killed for doing so I don't buy the argument that the Colombian traffickers are being silenced in the US.

in Venezuela though, I certainly wouldn't expect to hear much more from him after his is extradited.

[Peace Patriot]

8. Interesting thoughts and perspectives, rabs!

But I don't think Santos would jeopardize the U.S. "free trade for the rich" deal, now that it's a slamdunk in the Diebolded Puke Congress. What has all his democracy cosmetics been about, except to get that deal done?

And I don't think anything will jeopardize the war profiteers' backup boondoggle in Colombia and the region--except maybe U.S. bankruptcy. Clinton/Obama seem quite gung-ho to keep that particular bloody filth--the U.S. "war on drugs"--pouring into military 'contractors' pockets.

So I tend to think that you're right about the toss to the courts ploy. It's hard to believe that Makled will actually end up in Venezuela and get properly prosecuted for the murders and other crimes that he has been accused of. Despite Santos' need for trade with Venezuela, I can't believe that Santos would risk the U.S. trade deal--that all and sundry on the wrong side of things have worked so hard to achieve--nor the "war on drugs"/war-on-poor-Colombians gravy train, which Santos personally lobbied the U.S. Senate for. I don't think he's jeopardizing anything for the sake of good relations with Venezuela. It's more likely that he's sucking Venezuela in, with subtler tactics than Uribe was capable of, and "the boot" will come down later. Maybe Chavez's shutdown of the border was stopping some 'dirty tricks' operatives from entering Venezuela? With "free trade" between the countries, Venezuela is much easier to penetrate.

I just don't believe that Santos is an independent actor. I think he is Panetta-chosen. The question is: what is Panetta's game? Part of it is covering up Bush Jr's bloody trail through Colombia, I'm pretty sure of that. But another part may be a more experienced, subtler, more--um--'professional' CIA than the Bushwhacks were running (or that the CIA was capable of running, under the Bush Junta's thuggish rule). Panetta is a Daddy Bush pal--member of his Iraq Study Group and all. So I think we're seeing a resurgence of THAT CIA, whose activities will be harder to recognize and to trace. I don't think there has been any let-up whatsoever in trying to topple Chavez. It's just not quite as obvious as it was. It may be that Panetta has decided to slow the game down. The Bush Junta's brutal tactics were just getting more leftists elected in the region. "Divide and conquer" among the likes of Dilma Rousseff (Lula da Silva's protege), Evo Morales, Rafael Correa, Cristina Fernandez, Jose Mujica, Daniel Ortega, et al, have to be much cleverer. They are simply too savvy, and have too much hard experience behind them, to be easily bullied or fooled. And Honduras has put them all on the alert. What a stupid move! (I'm pretty convinced that it was a Bush Junta plot, sprung six months into the Obama administration, that Clinton couldn't or didn't want to get out of. Still not sure about Obama--maybe too much on his hands, with too little power?)

Anyway, to "turn" Latin America back into the U.S. "back yard" is going to take long, difficult, delicate, stealthy work. The momentum for L/A independence is quite overwhelming. And even some of the rightwing rulers have to be careful about it--and look like they are defending their peoples' sovereign interests. The defections on Cuba, and the defections and potential defections on the "war on drugs," involve political leaders across the spectrum, not just leftists. And the more people benefit from Latin America-only and multi-lateral trade, the stronger does the independence movement become.

This may have something to do with Santos toning things down. He has to appear to be more cooperative to get anywhere with leaders like those mentioned above--some of whom were tortured by U.S.-supported fascists, imprisoned, saw family and friends murdered, saw their countries ravaged by the likes of the fascist elite in Colombia. Also, it would play on their deepest desire--their desire for peace in the region--for Colombia to seem to be on a better path. Whether it is or not remains to be seen. I don't trust Santos one bit, and I don't imagine that they do either. But, as Emily Dickinson wrote,"Hope is a thing with feathers." You just can't help but hope that this big, U.S.-armed client state, right in their midst, can change, can start looking to Colombia's real interests and the region's interests. It is not realistic. It is a hope.

As for Makled, I'm sure there is a script written in Langley. We just can't see what it is, exactly. If he has any Bush Junta drug/death squad connections, he'll likely never go to Venezuela. Panetta wouldn't risk Venezuela's rather formidable intelligence agency, and new cooperation among leftist governments, "turning" him, especially since he's charged with murder and looking at life in prison. He also won't go there if he is a CIA ally/operative, apart from Bush Jr's liability. I think that is probably the most serious danger, from Panetta's point of view--not that he might have knowledge of Jr-authorized crimes, but that he's part of the CIA's own drug operations with the additional value of having been in place to dirty up some Chavez government people or to trump up evidence of it. And if he's under the control of Venezuela's justice system, and under threat of life sentence, he may tell what he really knows, and not what he was told to say if he was caught. All of this points to: The Colombia court will never extradite him to Venezuela (if the judges want to keep living) and Santos was lying through his teeth. There could be something subtler at work. I just don't know what it would be.

I expect next to hear that Makled has escaped from Colombian custody and turned up in Miami, and it'll be months, years, decades before he can be extradited back.

The U.S. government has no money with which to "close" Guantanamo Bay, did you hear? They'll never have the money to extradite Makled back to Colombia or even to arrest him. But maybe they'll put him "under house arrest" at the luxury condo in Miami and give him Secret Service protection. And he can freely spout off to the Miami Hairball trumpeting it all into Venezuela, via the "Voice of (Corporate) America," to prep things for 2012.

[Bacchus39]

9. nope, Santos won't jeopardize the trade with Ven which they currently have

the FTA is a proposal and not a done deal. other institutions in Colombia have power over extraditions. its not Venezuela. remember the court saying Uribe can't run again, saying the bases are not constitutional, and if you would bother to look you'll see the courts have to approve extraditions.

related, the prison closure in Guantanamo requires Congress to appropriate the money for the closure. if they don't approve it, it can't be closed. thats how the system works. blame the republicans for that. the executive branch can't appropriate themselves money. its not that the government isn't able to do it, its Congress likely won't.

again, its just a practical matter for Santos to deport Makled to Ven. He is wanted there, Chavez acts irrationally-and would likely ban trade yet again if he doesn't get the guy who would deeply embarrass him and expose the depth of corruption in the goverment, and US-Colombian relations are unlikely to suffer from the extradition to Ven.

[rabs]

10. The United States really wanted this guy

------ snips -----

In Washington, a State Department spokesman put on a brave face over the failed extradition request.

"We have made clear our law enforcement interest in prosecuting Makled in the United States," said Charles Luoma-Overstreet, spokesman for Latin American issues.

"We respect the extradition processes of the government of Colombia and will continue to work closely with .. Colombia on this and other cases," said Luoma-Overstreet.

He added: "As a matter of longstanding US policy, we do not comment publicly on pending extradition requests."

On Capitol Hill, Florida Republican Representative Connie Mack saw Makled's extradition to Venezuela as a victory for criminals.

"It is absolutely outrageous that the Obama administration dropped the ball" in requesting Makled's extradition, Mack said in an open letter to the departments of State and Justice.

In Venezuela, Makled "will not receive a fair trial and will not publicly expose his corrupt relations with Venezuelan authorities," said Mack.

http://www.laredosun.us/notas.asp?id=12115

-------------------

I doubt that Langley had any contact or control over Makled. The Chavez administration denounced him as Venezuela's biggest drug trafficker nearly three years ago when the government seized his airline and half-interest in a large port on the Caribbean.

Did Makled hand over millions of dollars to Venezuelan authorities? Probably, because corruption is so deeply ingrained into Venezuelan officialdom. It has been that way for the past half century and does not matter whether it was under the ADECO, COPEI administrations and now the Bolivarian government.

As said earlier, Chavez himself has not been implicated, but Makled says he paid off generals, people close to top ministry officials, vice admirals and others. In video below he claims to have hidden away documents that will prove it. If that is true, I imagine that Chavez would be looking to purge and punish anyone in his administration who may be implicated.

Video from Venezuela on Makled

http://multimedia.telesurtv.net/17/11/2010/20590/venezuela-recibe-con-gratitud-anuncio-de-extradicion-de-narcotraficante-walid-makled/

As for Santos, it is still hard to categorize him since he has been in the presidency for only 100 days. But in that time, he has largely fixed things with Chavez (they are now "bestest friends"), has dropped pursuing the seven bases accords in his Congress (that would open a can of worms that Santos obviously does not want).

More pragmatically, Santos is looking at the Colombia/Ven commerce that was so badly disrupted in uribito's final two years in office (from 7+ billion dollars in 2007 to about 1.5 billion in 2009). That $7 billion represents in one year what the U.S. Plan Colombia has given Bogota in the past 11 years.

[ChangoLoa]

11. Given? :)

Do you really think financial "aid" and "cooperation" is a gift?

What's the interest rate on that "gift"?

3 x LIBOR?

:eyes:

[Judi Lynn]

12. Connie Mack, for chrissakes. A puppet of the C.A.N.F., a total idiot right-wing reactionary.

We should be looking for him to link up with Palin for a Presidential team. Two idiots of the same stripe.

It won't help Mack's side if he allows the facts to surface. They just shout down the facts, shriek insults, point their stubby fingers, and a lazy part of the US public won't bother to check for the truth of the matter.

So Obama was supposed to coerce delivery of this creep even though Venezuela was busy with him legally a couple of years ago.

Connie Mack, so bright, he married Sonnie Bono's wife, Mary. It's a wonder any of them could ever learn to ties his/her shoes.

Just like the mass murdering narcotraffickers from Colombia, Makled, too, would rather be tried in the US for lesser charges than murder. It's not hard he'd try to figure out some way to get there, instead of facing trial in Venezuela. Unfortunately for him, it didn't work out this time.