|
We urge all British trade unionists and solidarity groups to keep a close eye on developments in Venezuela, especially in January. Opposition extremists called for the formation of a “parallel National Assembly” recently to be formed on January 5th, the same day as the newly elected deputies take office, since the current parliament is, in their opinion, “illegitimate”! This was proposed in an opposition march calling for the release of convicted ex trade union boss and coupster, Carlos Ortega.
20 dec - Andy Goodall
VSC Co-ordinator
Ex Venezuelan militaries had planned to overthrow President Hugo Chavez from Colombian territory revealed Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. Uribe confirmed that ex Venezuelan military officials met with Colombian military counterparts in a government building in Bogota.
Uribe made these comments during a joint press conference with Chavez after the meeting held in the northern Colombian city of Santa Marta to commemorate the death of Bolivar 175 years ago “Instead of making excuses and instead of deception, I am assuming my responsibility before President Chavez”, Uribe said.
He explained that last November during the last bilateral meeting in Venezuela, Chavez handed him a series of documents concerning presumed conspiracies taking place on Colombian soil, which were subsequently examined by the authorities in Bogota.
Intelligence at work
Chavez and Uribe celebrated the 175th
Anniversary of Simon Bolivar’s death |
The ex Venezuelan military officials held their meeting in a building where some Colombian military officials live.
“After carrying out intelligence work everyone has been advised that the Colombian government will not allow anyone to conspire against a democratic government and even less so against a brother country,” stated Uribe.
He added that, “a country like Colombia affected by terrorism cannot allow its territory to be used against the democracies of our peoples. No to terrorism in Venezuela and no to terrorism against Colombia.”
President Uribe did not reveal the names of the Venezuelan military officials who are presumably plotting against Chavez.
During the meeting held in Santa Marta, Uribe and Chavez agreed to initiate studies for the construction of a gas pipeline so that Venezuela will eventually be able to export oil to Asia.
BBC news.
Note: This important news piece was not published on the BBC web site in English.
Telsur covered the Chavez-Uribe meeting in Santa Marta and showed images of thousands of Colombians gathered in support of Chavez’ visit, some of whom were interviewed, talking about “our Venezuelan brothers”. Suffice it to say that there was overwhelming support for Chavez, even though the Colombian media, controlled by the multinationals and local oligarchy has successfully hidden this fact from the world…up till now. Thank Chavez for Telesur!! It is starting to fulfill its role. (You can see Telesur on the internet: Telesur using broadband.
This is the first time that the Colombian government has recognised that plots are being hatched on its territory to overthrow the democratically elected government of Hugo Chavez. The Venezuelan government has denounced such plots many times in the past which have always been treated in a banal fashion by the opposition mass media, both nationally and internationally. It remains to be seen if these media outlets change their tune now that Uribe has officially let the cat out of the bag.
These statements from Uribe came hard on the heels of a request for a clarification by Colombian Foreign Minister, Carolina Barco, that the US ambassador in Bogota refrains from interfering in Colombian internal affairs. Ambassador William Wood said, “Colombia is still suffering from political violence and intimidation. This is not new, but it is serious”. Wood added, “The 2003 regional elections were marked by corruption and fear, and in some cases assassinations. There is widespread concern that similar electoral practices could happen in the 2006 elections carried out by the paramilitaries”.
Foreign Minister Barco ended her statement by saying,” Plan Colombia cannot be used as an element of pressure on our country”.
There seems to be a change in Colombian foreign policy afoot now that Colombia did not complete its negotiations of sign the Free Trade Agreement with the US which it was negotiating together with Ecuador.
This is probably due to the fact that Venezuela is now a fully fledged member of Mercosur since December 15th and has stated that it will “revise” its trading relations with countries that sign free trade agreements with the US. This would be very serious for Colombia, a country that depends heavily on fuel supplies from Venezuela – most of it smuggled. On Thursday, the Venezuelan National Guard intercepted an illegal shipment of 1.5 million gallons of fuel on the border.
With bilateral Venezuelan-Colombian trade reaching an all time record of US$3.2 billion in 2005 and expected to grow further in 2006, it appears that Uribe, now on the campaign trail for the May 2006 elections, cannot afford to antagonise either Venezuela or the Colombian business community which benefits from Venezuela as its major trading partner.
Just compare the current situation to the Rodrigo Granda affair brewing exactly one year ago which led to the suspension of projects and trade between Colombia and Venezuela. Fuel shipments over the border to Colombia from Venezuela were suspended by the Venezuelan National Guard and this virtually paralysed the economy in north western Colombia. It seems that the winds of change are blowing favourably at the moment.
We urge all British trade unionists and solidarity groups to keep a close eye on developments in Venezuela, especially in January. Opposition extremists called for the formation of a “parallel National Assembly” recently to be formed on January 5th, the same day as the newly elected deputies take office, since the current parliament is, in their opinion, “illegitimate”! This was proposed in an opposition march calling for the release of convicted ex trade union boss and coupster, Carlos Ortega.
Andy Goodall
VSC Co-ordinator
info@venezuelasolidarity.org.uk
(Additional material supplied by Ruben Castaneda
|
