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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Colombia says most drug flights go from Venezuela |
| 2009-10-25 |
| Most illegal flights hauling Colombian drugs to Central America and the United States are now leaving from Venezuela, Colombia's Defense Minister Gabriel Silva said yesterday. The charge could further raise tensions between the Andean neighbors currently embroiled in a diplomatic standoff that has begun to damage bilateral trade of some US$7 billion (RM16.9 billion) a year. Traffickers in Colombia, still the world's No. 1 cocaine producer, use Venezuela as a transit route to reach markets in the United States and Europe, and also smuggle through the Caribbean, Africa, Central America and Mexico. "The number of radar tracks that are detected coming out of Colombia is marginal. Unfortunately the number of tracks detected and that end in the area around Honduras ... pass through Venezuelan territory," Silva told reporters. US authorities say Venezuela has become a major transit route for Colombian traffickers. Traffickers now use shipping routes and even submarines to transport cocaine from Colombia across the Pacific to Central America and the Mexican coast. The government of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, a fierce US critic, has accused Colombian state agents of allowing drugs to be smuggled through his country. He rejects charges his government fails to tackle drug trafficking. Ties between Caracas and Bogota have been roiled by a decision by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to allow US military forces more access to Colombian bases as part of cooperation to fight drug traffickers and leftist rebels. Colombia has received more than US$6 billion in US aid since 2000 to help in its fight against drug lords and Latin America's oldest surviving rebel insurgency. The conflict has ebbed as the FARC rebels have weakened. Uribe says the base deal with the United States is just an extension of current cooperation. But Chavez, who accuses Washington of trying to topple him, says the bases will be used for aggression against his oil-producing nation. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 It does kinda make one wonder...Chavez, Zelaya, Obama...Venezuela, Honduras and the world's biggest market for Andean chemical products. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2009-10-25 12:32 |
| #2 Abu, as they say, follow the money. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-10-25 09:44 |
#1 ...end in the area around Honduras ... pass through Venezuelan territory ah ha! now we see the real link between hugo and the Honduran crisis. might also explain why the BO admin was so keen to get involved. maybe a little side action that was going to be disrupted with the 'coup'? |
| Posted by: abu do you love 2009-10-25 07:28 |