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Chavez: Conflict with the US is inevitable
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday that "we want peace," but that Colombia and its allies in Washington represent war - and that conflict with the United States is inevitable. "It must be said: They, the empire and its lackeys, are war," Chavez said in a televised speech, his first since Colombia alleged that documents seized from a leftist rebel's computer prove the Venezuelan leader has been supporting the guerrillas for years. "We are the path to peace," said Chavez, who ordered 10 battalions of troops to reinforce the border after Colombia entered Ecuadorean territory to attack a leftist rebel hideout. Chavez spoke as diplomats from many countries struggled to defuse the crisis sparked by the Colombian attack. Ecuador rejected a Colombian apology for the cross-border strike as insufficient before an emergency meeting of the Organization of American States, where the United States was the only country to offer Colombia unqualified support. Many other countries worried openly about the violation to Ecuador's sovereignty, despite complaints that Venezuela and Ecuador have long provided refuge to leftist Colombian guerrillas. Chavez has warned Colombian President Alvaro Uribe that Venezuela would respond militarily to any violation of its border, and Venezuela's justice minister ramped up the threat Tuesday by declaring that war "has already begun." He said Wednesday that Colombia's "warlike government" follows US dictates and conflict of some sort with the US cannot be avoided: "While we want freedom, they want to keep us in chains. ... We want a fatherland; they want a colony. How can a confrontation be avoided? It's inevitable." "Venezuela will never again be a US colony," Chavez said to applause. Venezuela's agriculture minister, Elias Jaua, said Venezuela had closed the border - which sees annual trade worth roughly US$5 billion (3.3 billion) - to imports and exports. Leonardo Mendez, a spokesman for a Colombian cargo transport association, said some 300 vehicles, including trucks carrying food, shoes, ceramics and other products, were stuck at one major border crossing. Despite the shrill rhetoric from the Andean governments, in several border towns there was little sign of tension apart from the turning away of trucks by Venezuelan border guards. Contenting themselves by calling Chavez "crazy", Colombian truckers lounged in the shade drinking beer and saying they hope the crisis won't persist long. When the border is open, each day some 8,500 metric tons of merchandise cross between Colombia and Venezuela in both directions, said Jaime Sorzano, head of the cargo transport association. "In the past, we've had episodes, problems, but like this crisis no. It's unprecedented," he said. Posted by: Fred 2008-03-06 |
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