Significantly, Venezuela recently purchased 24 Russian and Chinese-developed Su-30MK2s, a modern fighter considered to have superior performance over the 1980's US F/A-18.
Monsenior Juan Cordoba, secretary of the conference of Catholic bishops in Colombia told Caracol Television, "This was a bit abrupt and we felt invaded, we felt like we were surrounded by 'gringos.'"
Ecuador is under no illusions about U.S & Colombian intentions & earlier reinforced its northern border with Colombia by moving 1200 soldiers to support some 10,500 soldiers & police personnel already stationed in Esmeraldas Province according to Ecuavisa Television. Ecuador has positioned 24 Brazilian Super Tucano combat aircraft & two frigates to support its troops. This is in part a result of an incursion in March, 2008, by Colombian forces in conjunction with U.S. intelligence & paramilitaries into Ecuadorean territory during which Raul Reyes, a prominent senior leader of the leftist guerilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was killed. Following the attack, Ecuador cut ties with Colombia. In a disputed Agence France Presse Report, Colombian soldiers claimed they recovered computer hard drives & flash drives with data linking Chavez to both the leftist guerrillas & drug trafficking.
Ecuadoran President Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado, a close Chavez ally, is openly critical of Colombia's motives, stating that US forces would use the Colombian bases for military purposes. Quito has struggled over the years to contain violence along its border with Colombia made unstable & dangerous by insurgent groups, foreign paramilitaries and drug traffickers. The situation there worsens by the day.
In Quito, on August 10, Presidents & heads of State of South American countries at the summit of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), signed the Quito Declaration. Referring to Josà Manuel Zelaya Rosales, in part, the document reads "We will not recognize, in any way, the alteration of institutional, democratic order," & condemns the coup d'à tat in Honduras by demanding the immediate restitution of the constitutionally elected president of that country. Roberto Micheletti Bain, the coup leader, has already told Venezuela's envoys to leave, but they have refused, the essence of their position being that Micheletti & his military backers with the support of the CEAL, the Latin American version of the Chamber of Commerce have no authority to expel them. They are all too familiar with how these things go & are no doubt keenly aware that Roberto Micheletti's current security adviser, Billy Joya, was a member of one of those bloody Reagan-era death squads. This coup, just as it was during the Reagan & assorted Bush administrations, was about servicing the interests of the business class & the wealthy elite such as the Kafis, the Canahuatis, the Facusses, the Naars, the Vasquez Velasquez families.
In response to universal rejection of the Honduran coup by OAS members (Canadian Foreign Minister for the Americas Peter Kent was the only person in the room to vocally oppose the plan for Zelaya to return to Honduras immediately), Secretary of State Hillary Clinton supported their response & stated the U.S. Government did not recognize Micheletti's government.
On Tuesday, August 18, she made another statement regarding the Colombian bases in which she:
defended an imminent agreement that will give the United States access to military bases in Colombia, amid regional concerns about US intentions. Clinton and visiting Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez said the two countries expected to sign a defense cooperation agreement soon that will boost their longstanding military ties. "I want to be clear about what this agreement does and does not. First: the agreement does not create US bases in Colombia, it does provide US access to Colombian bases," Clinton said after a meeting with Bermudez. "This agreement does not pertain to other countries. This is about the bilateral cooperation between the United States and Colombia regarding security matters within Colombia. Leftist leaders in Venezuela and Ecuador, which border Colombia, have loudly denounced the agreement as a ruse to establish bases that threaten their governments. The US plans also have raised concerns among more moderate Latin American leaders. Clinton said the US and Colombian governments hope to sign the agreement "in the near future. It will allow us to continue working together to meet the challenges posed by narco-traffickers, terrorists, and other illegal armed groups in Colombia," she said, adding, "These threats are real."
Obama's position can be found in similarly bizarre comments like the United States has "no intent in establishing a U.S. military base in Colombia." Just what "base means to these guys is anybody's guess. In the face of obvious, copious & very available facts & information to the contrary, Cheneyesque comments like that are enough to make your skin crawl all the way to Pittsburg. What is all too clear is that the Obama administration has decided to increase U.S. military activities in the area.
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