Monthly Archives: July 2010

Jul
29
2010
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Q+A-What is driving Venezuela-Colombia dispute?

Venezuela’s socialist President Hugo Chavez cut diplomatic ties with neighbor Colombia last week after it accused his country of sheltering leftist guerrillas. The latest dispute between the feuding Andean nations has ratcheted up regional tensions ahead of the inauguration of Colombian president-elect Juan Manuel Santos on Aug. 7 and Venezuelan legislative elections on Sept. 26.

The following looks at some of the issues and risks raised by the crisis.

ARE COLOMBIAN REBELS OPERATING IN VENEZUELA?

Almost certainly, although it is disputed whether they are actively supported by Venezuela. While Chavez dismissed Colombia’s charges that there are Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, camps in Venezuela as a hoax, he says Venezuela is a victim of Colombia’s failure to end its decades-old civil war. The porous, 1,375-mile (2,200-km) frontier has long been a source of war refugees, weapons and smuggled cocaine, and residents of the region say members of the rebel group have become more visible in recent years.

Colombia, which has driven the once mighty FARC into remote hide-outs, accuses Chavez of financially backing the group as well as allowing it to set up comfortable “summer camps.” The FARC are labeled terrorists by the United States and the European Union, although not by all South American countries.

The evidence that sparked the current crisis, which Colombia presented to the Organization of American States last week, included satellite pictures, maps and testimony from demobilized guerrilla fighters indicating that 1,500 rebels were living in dozens of camps on Venezuela’s side of the border.

Chavez has welcomed a FARC commander at his presidential palace as part of his involvement in efforts to free rebel hostages, but he rejects U.S. and Colombian claims he shelters or supports the group.

Colombia says that the same commander, Ivan Marquez, is among about 15 leaders of the FARC and smaller rebel National Liberation Army (ELN) taking refuge in Venezuela.

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Jul
29
2010
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Colombia dispute helps Chavez distract

This article was originally posted by The Associated Press

Venezuela’s diplomatic fight with Colombia comes at an opportune time for Hugo Chavez, who could benefit politically if he manages to shifts voters’ attention away from a recession, Latin America’s highest inflation and rampant crime.

Venezuela’s socialist president is playing up his dispute with U.S.-allied Colombia in an apparent attempt to rally nationalist sentiment against foreign enemies ahead of legislative elections in September.

He severed relations with Colombia last week in response to allegations that Venezuela has become a haven for Colombian rebels — and without missing a beat he sought to portray those accusations as a plot against him by Bogota and Washington. It’s a theme likely to be repeated Thursday at a meeting of South American foreign ministers in Ecuador.

The narrative helps Chavez play on supporters’ patriotism and redirect attention away from potentially damaging accusations. But even for a leader accustomed to making claims of conspiracies, his rhetoric has been particular strong.

“The possibility of an armed attack from Colombian territory on Venezuela’s territory has a probability that it’s never had before in many years. I’d say 100 years,” Chavez told a rally of supporters over the weekend. “I’m obliged to tell the people the truth: We are threatened by the Yankee empire.”

Chavez has long accused the U.S. of trying to oust him since he survived a 2002 coup, and he insists his concerns about a possible armed conflict are genuine. Yet Chavez’s forceful verbal counterattack — from threatening to cut off U.S. oil shipments to talking of a threat of war — also seem politically expedient.

He has plenty to be concerned about at home: 31 percent inflation, a recession that saw the economy contract 3.3 percent last year, unchecked crime and a scandal involving thousands of tons of food found rotting or beyond expiration dates in government storage.

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Jul
28
2010
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Tense energy ties between Venezuela and United States

This article was originally posted by Reuters Africa

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has threatened to cut off oil supplies to the United States in case of any military attack by Colombia as a row escalates over charges that Venezuela harbors leftist Colombian guerrillas.

Despite his heated rhetoric, the former paratrooper has never followed through on several previous threats to stop U.S. shipments. But energy ties between the two nations have become increasingly tense in recent years.

FALLING EXPORTS

* The United States is the Latin American OPEC member’s top customer, and Venezuela is currently the fifth biggest U.S. supplier after Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Nigeria. The volume of Venezuelan crude shipped to the United States has fallen 39 percent to 1.08 million barrels per day (bpd) last year from a peak of 1.78 million bpd in 1997, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says. (r.reuters.com/hyp99m)

* The decline is partly due to increasing sales by Caracas to customers such as Cuba, China and Iran, as well as stagnating production by Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.

* U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration, for its part, wants to develop an energy policy that reduces foreign oil dependence.

THREATS TO SUPPLIES

* Chavez first warned back in February 2004 that he would shut off Venezuelan oil supplies to the United States if it tried to invade the Andean nation or impose a trade blockade against his country — after he accused former U.S. President George W. Bush’s administration of backing a short-lived coup attempt against him in 2002. The following month, he backed away from the threat and said he did not have any intention of damaging relations with Washington.

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