May 17, 2008 [LINK / comment]
Chavez helps to arm rebels
Other than Joe "CITGO" Kennedy, perhaps, no one seriously doubts that Venezuelan president-for-life Hugo Chavez supports the rebels in Colombia. The extent of his his involvement and solid proof thereof are another question, however. This past week, Colombian officials showed to reporters captured paper documents and files on computer hard drives proving that the Venezuelan government tried to help Colombian guerrillas obtain surface-to-air missiles via an Australian arms dealer. The deal was not consummated, apparently, but significant quantities of small arms, including rocket-propelled grenade launchers, have already been delivered to FARC, courtesy of Hugo Chavez. It was the decision by the Reagan administration to provide American-made "Stinger" surface-to-air missiles to the mujaheddin rebels in Afghanistan that tipped the balance against the Soviet Union. The Afghan War was one of the crucial battlefields of the Cold War, and likewise, Colombia today could prove as decisive in the Global War On Terrorism. Hugo Chavez has been actively collaborating with Islamic terrorist groups, and by extension, Cuba and the FARC in Colombia are part of this "Axis." Ironically, Chavez has accused the Bush administration of using this report to justify an invasion of Venezuela from Colombia, when he is the one who has been blatantly inciting hostilities throughout the region. See Washington Post.
It's yet another case of a power-mad despot who is turning the truth on its head, somehow managing to convince enough innocent people that it's the people other side who are lying. How long can such massive-scale deception go on? And how will the people who have been deceived deal with the fact that they were badly misled and used for nefarious purposes? Nothing in this world is more disconcerting than realizing that you've been had by people you once trusted.