Colombia, Venezuela in new border incident as tensions mount

Colombia Nov. 14 deported four members of the Venezuelan National Guard who were allegedly detained on Colombian territory a day earlier. Bogotá says the men were stopped by a Colombian naval patrol in a boat on a river in the remote border department of Vichada. Colombia’s Administrative Security Department said the men were turned over the Venezuelan authorities at the border town of Puerto Páez. Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe made much of the deportations as a magnanimous gesture, saying he intended them as a message of the “unbreakable affection” between the two countries. Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez called Uribe a “mafioso” in comments on the detainment of the guardsmen, and ruled out any dialogue with his “traitorous” government. (BBC News, Nov. 15; EFE, Nov. 14)

In his weekly TV talk show Nov. 8, Chávez accused the US and Colombia of conspiring to invade his country. “Don’t make the mistake, President Obama, of ordering an overt aggression against Venezuela utilizing Colombia,” he said. “In Venezuela we are ready for anything, and Venezuela will never, never be a Yankee colony again.” (VenezuelAnalysis, Nov. 11)

In comments Nov. 15 Chávez charged that the planned US military bases in Colombia would be used for spying and suggested that Uribe and Obama “go and jump in a lake.” Chávez dismissed the notion that the bases are to be used for counter-narcotics efforts: “We have produced documents which show otherwise. Yankee bases in Colombia form part of a war plan; so the papers say. From these bases, the Yankee Empire will control all of South America and the whole South American territory.” (El Universal, Caracas, Nov. 15 via VHeadline)

See our last posts on Colombia Venezuela, and their escalating crisis.

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      1. Surprised I haven’t seen….
        … any comments/news on your site about the bombing of bridges between Colombia and Venezuela by the Venezuelan Military. That to me is an act of war.

        1. Thanks for the news tip
          This just happened yesterday. Why don’t you give us a chance before you criticize? If we aren’t fast enough for your liking, please feel free to contribute to our resources by making a donation. You can use the Paypal button at the top the page. Gracias.

          1. a) I wasn’t criticizing.
            a) I wasn’t criticizing. I suggest you drink a huge glass of Koolaid before shooting from the hip and making feel your potential readers (not to mention donors) somewhat alienated. Thanks.

            1. Why Kool-aid?
              Forgive me if I jumped to conclusions. But whenever we either report or fail to report negative news about Chavez, Uribe, Zelaya, Micheletti, Ahmedinejad, the neocons, Karzai, the Taliban, Israel, Hamas, Milosevic, NATO, etc. etc., we are accused of shilling for the Other Side.

              My thanks for the news tip was sincere.

        1. I finished the limerick
          This Chavez has oatmeal for brains
          But just look at the one who complains
          Colombia slaughters its peasants
          Shoots down workers like pheasants
          Hey, at least the free market obtains