Chavez to prepare for possible hostage transfer from FARC

[Judi Lynn]

Source: AFP

Chavez to prepare for possible hostage transfer from FARC
6 hours ago

CIENFUEGOS, Cuba (AFP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said at a summit that he would make preparations in case Colombian rebels release three hostages to his government as they have promised.
(snip)

Venezuelan authorities earlier said they were standing by to take in the three hostages Colombia's FARC rebels have said could be released as early as this weekend after spending years of captivity in the jungle.

A Colombian opposition senator who has been involved in negotiations with the rebels, Piedad Cordoba, was expected in the capital, one of her aides, Andres Vazquez, told AFP.

Chavez served as a mediator in negotiations on a possible swap of hostages for rebel prisoners before being dropped last month by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe amid accusations he broke protocol.

Chavez, who has expressed anger at Bogota for dropping him as a mediator, alleged that elements in Colombia would try to sabotage the hostage release and that Colombia lacked the will for securing the freedom of other hostages.



Read more: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hhHNABAwO8qE2p11jZNTYTB-rRvw

[Judi Lynn]

1. Congrats to Latin America news watcher Peace Patriot who called this days ago, if not longer.

Now it has been acknowledged that Chavez was indeed concerned, considering the history already commonly known about the Colombian government's harboring some elements working with the Venezuelan oligarchy in anti-Chavez schemes, having, at one time sent a D.A.S. head (like our F.B.I.) of Uribe's, Jorge Noguera, "on the lam" when he was discovered connected to an assassination plot on Chavez, 130 paramilitaries into Venezuela on hire by Venezuelan oligarchy militants to attack and kill Chavez after raiding a National Guard armory and securing weapons for 1,500 men, and after a 6 hour session in which Uribe officially apologized to Chavez for Colombian government members' involvement in an assassination plot on Chavez, concerned about whether or not there would be any chance he'd be allowed to successfully secure the passage of the hostages out of FARC territory without interference and murders from the Colombian military or paramilitaries, etc.

Peace Patriot called this and was completely correct. This article confirms those educated suspicions completely.

[Peace Patriot]

3. Yeah, I saw a trap for Chavez in this one, because billions of dollars to Uribe

and his rightwing government, military and closely associated paramilitaries, from the Bush Junta, are involved (actually, our taxpayer dollars through the fingers of the Bush Junta to these fascist forces). When the Bush Junta gives Uribe orders, he is supposed to obey. I began to feel a little prickly when suddenly there were reports of a surprising friendship between Chavez and Uribe, some months ago. I was hoping that Chavez's championing of regional independence had gotten even to Uribe (it can't be pleasant being Bush's running dog). But I suspect now that it was part of a larger plot to get Chavez killed, or hostages killed (to be blamed on Chavez), and/or to kill FARC members, in some (deliberately) confused crossfire situation. There was a mysterious killing of different FARC hostages, some months ago, in which unidentified shooters (Blackwater?) attacked a FARC camp and deliberately shot the hostages who were present--a possible rehearsal for this later effort to "get" Chavez.

Uribe INVITED Chavez to try to negotiate the release of the current hostages. That should have sent up some alarms--and I guess it did to Chavez. Then, when Chavez made progress, Uribe pulls the rug out from under him--quite suddenly, using a lame excuse, just before the Venezuelan referendum (that the Bush Junta was pouring millions of dollars into, to defeat it--it would have given Chavez more emergency powers, in case of another coup attempt, control of the central back and the right to run for president again in 2012). I figured THAT was orders from Washington (--when the plot had been foiled, find some excuse to stop the hostage release before the referendum).

The excuse Uribe used is another pointer to lack of good faith on Uribe's part. He said Chavez had broken a "rule" not to call the Colombian military. Odd rule. (Chavez was supposed to TRUST Uribe--Bush's pet--that neither the military nor paramilitaries--the people who were PLANNING to assassinate Chavez last year--would not sabotage the hostage release? He would have been a fool not to seek his own assurances.) What I suspect is that that phone call foiled the plot; Uribe and Bush et al were pissed at that, and tried to salvage from P.R. points by immediately breaking off the negotiation for the hostages, since the hostages' lives were never something they cared about in this first place. (--just pawns in their rotten game). Uribe & Co. then ARRESTED the 3 FARC members who were in transit to Caracas with the "proof of life" documents and video. (Talk about bad faith!)

Notably, that same weekend, Donald Rumsfeld published an op-ed on Chavez*--Rumsfeld's New PNAC for Oil War II: South America--in which he implies that Chavez is a "terrorist" for negotiating with FARC, and that, "He has repeatedly threatened its neighbors." (Deju vu all over again?)

"In late November, Colombia's president, Alvaro Uribe, declared that Chávez's efforts to mediate hostage talks with Marxist terrorists from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, were not welcome. Chávez responded by freezing trade with Colombia." --Donald Rumsfeld, WaPo, 12/1/07

We can see in this op-ed the pieces of the shattered plot that Rumsfeld was still trying to use to advantage--and also the pieces he leaves out--for instance, that Uribe had INVITED Chavez to do this negotiation. Rumsfeld implies that Chavez somehow undertook to deal with "Marxist terrorists" on his own, and had butted into Colombian affairs. The opposite occurred--Uribe asked him to do it, then, when it appeared that it might be successful (freeing the hostages), he used a lame excuse to stop it.

Rumsfeld goes onto lay out his plans for removing the "checks and balances" in our own government (such as they are--for instance that fusty old Congress) so that the U.S. can act "swiftly" in "support of friends and allies" (more fascist coup attempts in Venezuela and other oil-rich South American countries), and for larding billions more of our taxpayer dollars on the Uribe government, and for giving global corporate predators (Monsanto, Chiquita, et al) carte blanch "free trade" (kill all the union leaders you want) in Colombia.

The timing of this article--and its opening shot at Chavez regarding the FARC negotiation--is one fairly certain indicator that it was a plot. Rumsfeld tries to turn it against Chavez (in typical Rumsfeld fashion, by lying), but it can't really be construed that way. Only if the plot had SUCCEEDED--and, say, hostages had gotten killed by rightwing instigated violence--could Chavez have been smeared in some way by the event. It looks to me like Rumsfeld got caught mid-plot. I'll bet there was some quick editing before this went to press. You can even see some raw mistakes of haste. Rumsfeld wrote of Chavez: "He has repeatedly threatened its neighbors." It sounds a bit illiterate, no? Figure hasty re-writes as the plot did not unfold.

In any case, it looks like the forces of good prevailed. It was not a disastrous shootout, in which they could conveniently shoot Chavez and others, or blame shootings on Chavez. Uribe ended up smelling like the stinking fish he is. And some of the hostages are about to be released.


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

*"The Smart Way to Beat Tyrants Like Chávez," by Donald Rumsfeld, 12/1/07
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/30/AR2007113001800.html

Discussion here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x323889

[Judi Lynn]

5. Uribe can't give up the THIRD LARGEST FOREIGN AID package in the world. If he gives up his war on

the poor of Colombia, he'll lose it, considering almost all of it allegedly goes to his mililitary adventures against them.

He has taken this vast outpouring of US taxpayers' hard earned taxdollars _Bush sends him. He has known nothing else!

His breaking former barriers to Presidential terms has passed with not one significant word from the US corporate media. It's fine by them! No droning on and on and on about his intention to "rule" forever, nope. In fact, they have actually connected a defense for him, by claiming only his leadership can get his country through the trouble it faces. Uh huh.

The dim ones among us appear to find this simply appropriate, but something which gets them foaming at them mouth if someone mentions the name of the terrifying leftist, Chavez.

Thank you for pointing out, additionally, it was Uribe who suddenly announced his invitation to Chavez to mediate. Very questionable act, considering all of the history which had transpired up to that point.



Uribe attended Rafael Correa's inauguration.

[Peace Patriot]

7. Wonderful photo, Judi Lynn! Thanks!

You can see the lively dynamics of the "brotherhood"* in this photo--the natural affinity of Hugo Chavez (Venezuela), Evo Morales (Bolivia) and Rafael Correa (Ecuador). And Uribe looks so forlorn! What ravages we see in the face of this Bush toady! My, my! And you can also see what NOT toadying to Bush does to people--brightens their faces, improves their health, infuses them with youthful vigor and puts a friendly, intelligent, engaged "glow" around them.

Really, what a pix! Says it all!

--------

*(I had vowed not to use the term "brotherhood" again, to describe the Bolivarian leaders, since Cristina Fernandez Kirchner got elected president a few weeks ago in Argentina, and immediately joined them--in a lively blast at the Bush Junta for its scurrilous covert op against her and Chavez (the "suitcase full of money" bullshit). But I have to use "brotherhood" for THIS photo, because the brotherhood among the three on the left is so evident, and Uribe--one of Bush's and Rumsfeld's few buds in South America--is so obviously...conflicted. What an unhappy human he is!)

[allisonthegreat]

8. Great piece, great image "The Brotherhood" alas...n/t

[Judi Lynn]

9. Ha! You describe the difference so well. All Uribe has to look forward to is his next load of

US taxpayers' hard-earned money coming to him thanks to his friend _{George W. Bush.}

The other men all have targets on their backs, but they are engaged in building countries which have been driven and dominated by US puppets, with dire results for the citizens.

I was thinking when I saw the photo, that two of the three are partly indigenous, and Correa speaks an indigenous language fluently.

Uribe, on the other hand, enables corporations to seize land from the indigenous, sending them into a homeless, hopeless state, after the military and paramilitaries terrorize the residents away from their only known homelands.

They really DON'T have all that much in common, do they?

"Brotherhood" will apply when you add the fact that the current President of Argentina's husband said of Chavez, "But he's my brother," as you have noted in your own writings since he said it.

You do recall she warmly reached out in her inauguration to these Presidents. (Oddly, she didn't mention Uribe, who was sitting there in the auditorium, sporting a long face then, too!)

Here's that video from C-Span for anyone who still would like to see it. It has an excellent translator. (The women in the balcony with white scarves are the mothers of young women who were imprisoned by the violent right-wing junta in Argentina, an action aided and supported by Henry Kissinger, their daughters who were pregnant were either allowed to go to full term deliveries or were C-Sectioned, then chained together, driven to the airport, and thrown out of airplanes over the water. Their babies were handed out to favored Argentinian officers like so many door prizes.

When the mothers tried to protest their missing daughters, the right-wing government sent infiltrators into their group, like this man, the "Angel of Death," Alfredo Astiz, who was a torturer from the Argentinian Naval School.


He was able to get information on them which the government used to claim they were enemies of the country, and some of them were also killed, including two French nuns, on whose behalf France sought justice.

The new President of Argentina refers to this hideous period in Argentina, and the horrid economic troubles brought on by neo-liberal President Menem, friend of the _Bush family repeatedly in her speech.



One hopes this means they will not allow our idiot right-wingers to terrorize their countries any longer, since they have gotten close looks at how they operate once they have their greasy, grimey pudgey fingers in a country's internal business.

[Peace Patriot]

10. Did you forget to put the link to the video above? I'd love to see it! Thanks! nt

[Judi Lynn]

11. Oh, Jeez! A link could be helpful. Sure glad you told me, I totally forgot.

Click on the words: Inauguration of Cristina Fern?ez de Kirchner, President of Argentina

at: http://www.c-span.org/search/basic.asp?ResultStart=1&ResultCount=10&BasicQueryText=+Fernandez+inauguration&image1.x=22&image1.y=15

[Peace Patriot]

13. Thank you so much! What an impressive woman Cristina Fernandez is!

Her conclusion was very moving. She asks all Argentines to take their example from "the Grandmothers"--the women who stood fast during the brutal U.S.-backed military dictatorship of the 1970s-80s, bearing witness to the "disappeared." Also, she said she will not rest on economic matters until there is not a single Argentine who is poor! How often do you hear a president say that?

It was also interesting to see all the neighboring presidents in the audience--almost all LEFTISTS: Evo Morales (Bolivia), Hugo Chavez (Venezuela), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), Lula da Silva (Brazil) and Tabare Vazquez (Uruguay). She spoke of some accord they had all just signed. Alvaro Uribe (Colombia) was also present--looking like a ghostly, haunted, ill man with many sins on his conscience. Fernandez offered any help Argentina could give to negotiate the release of the hostages held by FARC, one who whose mothers was present in the audience (Betancourt).

Cristina Fernandez is the first woman ever to be elected president of Argentina. She shares that distinction with Michele Batchelet, the first woman to be elected president of Chile. And, in the audience, the first 100% indigenous indian to be elected president of Bolivia--Evo Morales. And two other brown faces--Chavez (part indigenous) and Correa (not sure--but he is fluent in Ecuador's indigenous language). All the excluded people--the indigenous, women, political leftists--all the oppressed people, all the brutalized people, all the people with 'disappeared' relatives and friends, all the good people, all the generous people, the believers in democracy, the LEFTISTS, coming to power in South America all at once. It is a wonderful thing to behold. There was much applause and many cheers for these simpatico presidents who were sitting quietly scattered about in the audience until President Fernandez acknowledged them. The feeling of solidarity and mutual goals came through strongly.

[Gonnuts]

6. What exactly is Rumsfeld doing in all this?

What is Rumsfeld's official stake in all this? What post does he hold in the government now? He's not SoD, if he's a citizen isn't there a law he would be breaking brokering foreign policy outside of government oversight? What the hell!? This guy's like a case of herpes, you can't get rid of him!

[killbotfactory]

12. People like Rumsfeld don't just go away, unfortunatly

they join think tanks and remain players behind the scenes.

The only way to be rid of them is legal action, and that will never happen. The elite protect the elite.

[ProudDad]

2. Viva Chavez

Nice to see there's one country with an effective leader...

[Cha]

4. That takes guts which

weren't passed out to the chickenshithawks who are the powertrippers in this country. And that includes one hillary clinton.