The World¡¯s Warmonger

Published by the Colombia Journal, 2/21/05

http://www.colombiajournal.org/colombia203.htm

According to the Bush administration, it is Venezuelan President Hugo Ch¨¢vez¡¯s desire to purchase weapons from Russia that threatens to destabilize the Andean region, not the $3 billion in military aid that Washington has provided to Colombia over the past five years.

Likewise, in the Middle East, it is Syria¡¯s efforts to obtain purely defensive anti-aircraft missiles that pose a threat to that region, not the $1 billion a year in U.S. military aid to Israel. And on the nuclear front, while there is no evidence that Iran is intending to build nuclear weapons, it is the regime in Tehran that is threatening to further destabilize the region, not President Bush¡¯s apparent pledge to support any future Israeli attack against Iran.

Meanwhile, North Korea¡¯s withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in order to develop nuclear weapons makes the Asian nation a ¡°rogue state,¡± but Washington¡¯s abandonment of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) to build its missile defense system, which could lead to the weaponization of space, apparently does not justify the same anti-multilateralist label being applied to the United States.

In December 2004, the Bush administration sent a letter of protest to the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC, and also expressed its concern to Russia¡¯s defense and foreign ministers about Moscow¡¯s decision to sell AK-47 automatic weapons to Venezuela. The Bush administration claims that President Ch¨¢vez¡¯s arms purchases pose a threat to neighboring Colombia and could lead to a regional arms race, destabilizing the Andean region. The Bush administration failed to note the possibly destabilizing consequences of Colombia¡¯s recent massive U.S.-funded military build up.

One U.S. State Department spokesman stated: ¡°Venezuela¡¯s plans to purchase various types and large quantities of weapons are extremely troubling. And we believe that Venezuela should consult with its neighbors on such armament acquisitions.¡± Which raises the obvious question: Has the United States ever suggested that the Colombian government consult with President Ch¨¢vez or other regional leaders regarding the massive amounts of military aid it has received from Washington over the past five years? This answer is definitely not.

The Bush administration also contributed to increasing instability in the Andean region by supporting Colombia¡¯s flagrant violation of Venezuelan sovereignty in December 2004. The U.S. Ambassador to Colombia William Wood stated that the United States supported the Uribe administration ¡°100 percent,¡± even after the Colombian government admitted lying when it initially announced that FARC guerrilla representative Rodrigo Granda had been arrested in the Colombian city of C¨²cuta. Instead, the Colombian government had paid mercenaries to kidnap Granda in the Venezuelan capital and smuggle him across the border.

The Bush administration¡¯s confrontational rhetoric has also included repeatedly labeling President Ch¨¢vez as anti-democratic. Such accusations reek of hypocrisy given the Bush White House¡¯s immediate endorsement of the military coup that temporarily overthrew the democratically-elected Ch¨¢vez in April 2002¡ªnot to mention the likelihood of a U.S. role in the coup itself. Not surprisingly, Colombia was the only other country in the hemisphere to follow Washington¡¯s lead and immediately recognize the coup government.

Clearly, Venezuela poses no military threat to the United States. However, given the horrendous history of U.S. military intervention in Latin America, the Bush administration¡¯s anti-Ch¨¢vez rhetoric and the close military ties between the United States and Colombia, the Ch¨¢vez government has plenty to fear from Washington. And yet, Bush administration officials would have us believe that it is the United States that is being threatened by Venezuela, whose only weapons are social policies aimed at helping the poor and words that criticize U.S. imperialism in the region.



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