CHAVEZ RATTLES SABERS AT AN ALLY AND OBAMA DITHERS
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Chavez’s War Wish
Americas: Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez was all bluster last weekend, flashing his missiles, hurling insults and spoiling for a fight with Colombia. The big danger here isn’t Chavez, but growing White House indifference to an ally.
This fall, when U.S. officials agreed to expanded military-base access in Colombia to fight drug trafficking and terrorism, it never occurred to them how much Chavez would use the arrangement as a pretext for aggression.
“They are preparing a war against us,” Chavez said Monday. So from Russia, he said, “thousands of missiles are arriving,” along with T-72 military tanks “to strengthen our armored divisions.”
The U.S. ought to take this as a threat, because signs are piling up that Chavez is preparing to move against Colombia. It’s not just that he has ruined Venezuela’s economy and wants to distract his subjects by whipping up nationalist fervor. He seeks to break the U.S.-Colombia alliance and drive the U.S. from the region.
Chavista military doctrine, after all, claims that Colombia doesn’t actually exist. The 2005 “Pensamiento Militar Bolivariano” says Colombia’s alliance with the U.S. renders its sovereignty null, giving Venezuela a right to take it over.
Monday’s missile announcement follows a string of small provocations. Two months ago, 11 Colombian soccer players were massacred in Venezuela by illegal armed groups that freely roam the area. Venezuela’s callous obstruction of Colombia’s effort to retrieve the bodies stood out for its malevolence.
After that, Chavez replaced local security forces in the same border region with his own loyalists, raising fears that he is federalizing the area for fast mobilization and more control.
Then Chavez ordered his troops to begin dynamiting footbridges connecting Venezuela to Colombia, claiming they were used by drug dealers. At least eight have been taken out so far.
Chavez also initiated a trade blockade with Colombia, collapsing cross-border trade by 70% in October. That cost Colombia 170,000 jobs, the equivalent of 1 million in the U.S.
Now he’s concentrating weapons and troops on the Colombian border, having spent $4.4 billion on Russian SAM missiles, rocket launchers, rifles, tanks, helicopters, Sukhoi fighters and more.
All the while he has directed crude, violent rhetoric and insults against Colombia’s president and Cabinet officials.
The reaction from Colombia has been to hunker down and humor the barbarian next door — a reasonable response for a country that may or may not be able to defend itself. But why the silence from its big ally, the U.S.? President Obama has said nothing about this, and his administration deludes itself that U.S. troops on Colombian bases don’t matter.
“We are very much aware of recent tensions along the Venezuelan-Colombia border. I certainly don’t think this is about the United States,” a State Department spokesman said blandly at a recent press briefing. “But we certainly would encourage dialogue between Venezuela and Colombia and a peaceful resolution of the situation along their border.”
Chavez can see that this isn’t a statement of a strong ally. He also can see weak commitment in deeds. Despite more base access, only about 300 U.S. troops and contractors are stationed in Colombia now, far fewer than the 900-plus at the peak of the Plan Colombia operations a few years ago.
Plan Colombia’s annual $500 million in aid to Colombia has remained steady, but the proportion going to military operations has fallen, with only half going to defense and the rest to nongovernmental organizations.
Then there’s Obama’s steadfast refusal to put a free-trade treaty with Colombia before Congress, even one that would help prevent the loss of 383,353 U.S. jobs, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The pact has languished for more than three years now.
Given all this, is it any wonder Chavez is feeling his oats? Unless the Obama administration gets serious about its alliance with Colombia, the problem will get worse by neglect. A madman is on the loose and won’t stop until he finds the war he’s looking for.
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