Filed under: bush, Caribbean, chavez, CIA, colombia, Colonialism, Coup, drones, Empire, FARC, future war, Hamid Karzai', Hugo Chavez, karzai, latin america, military base, Military Industrial Complex, nation building, netherlands, obamas war, occupation, Oil, proxy war, resource war, secret war, South America, uav, Venezuela, war on drugs, War On Terror, war provocation | Tags: Curaçao
Netherlands has Granted U.S. Military Use of its Islands in the Caribbean
globalresearch.ca
January 14, 2010
The government of the Netherlands recently granted the US military use of its islands in the Caribbean, with the excuse that this is to help in the “war against drugs”. In reality, this is a direct threat to the Chavez government in Venezuela.
In the Dutch media articles have appeared about the “war-mongering” president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, who is “preparing a war against Colombia”. Now Chávez has accused the Netherlands of supporting aggression against Venezuela, because the Netherlands has given permission to the American armed forces to use the military bases on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba and Curaçao[1].
In the media Hugo Chávez, as always, has been presented like some “crazy populist”, and of course the “civilised Netherlands” are presented as being totally innocent.
Later Maxime Verhagen, the Dutch minister of foreign affairs, said the American military were on Aruba and Curaçao, as part of the “war against drugs”. He remains silent about what is really happening on Aruba and Curaçao.
Authors such as Noam Chomsky and Eva Golinger have pointed out in different articles that the so-called “war against drugs” has nothing to do with any battle against drug smuggling, but has been used for other causes such as fighting against guerrilla movements and the spying of other countries. Since the start of the “war against drugs” there has only been more smuggling and consumption of drugs.
The fact that the Netherlands are participating in this is quite normal, because the Dutch government has a tradition of supporting American imperialism. After Britain the Netherlands are the biggest ally of the U.S. in Western Europe. The cabinet of Prime Minister Balkenende gave political support to the invasion of Iraq that was based completely on lies. Now the Netherlands have troops in Afghanistan, officially to rebuild the country, but in practice to prop up the corrupt regime of Karzai.
The bases on Aruba and Curaçao
In 1999 the Netherlands and the U.S. signed an agreement for the establishment of Forward Operating Locations (FOLs). This meant that the American military could use air force bases on Aruba and Curaçao. While the bases were originally used for operations against drug smuggling and the Colombian guerrilla movement FARC, this changed with the election of George Bush. Venezuela was seen as a threat by then, because it was a beacon of hope for the poor and working people of Latin America. In 2002 there was a CIA-backed coup attempt against the democratically elected Hugo Chávez. Since then there have only been more intrigues against Venezuela.
In 2006 there was a big military exercise by the U.S., Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain, France and Canada in the Caribbean, named Joint Caribbean Lion 2006. This exercise was clearly a provocation against Venezuela. After criticisms by the Venezuelan government the then-minister of defence Henk Kamp and some right-wing MPs decided to accuse Chávez of “wanting to conquer the Antilles”. This was based on false statements from the Venezuelan opposition, that stated Chávez claimed everything within 200 miles from the Venezuelan coast as Venezuelan territory, while in that speech Chávez clearly said “12”, and not “200” miles.
Now there is a new conflict. This has everything to do with the recent militarization of Colombia and its seven military bases that have been given to American troops. Venezuela is not talking nonsense as the media keep claiming. Colombia’s military spending now is 5% of its Gross Domestic Product. At the peak of her struggle against the FARC this was 2.5%.
Also the American Fourth Fleet has been stationed back in the Caribbean since 2008. This fleet was disbanded in 1950 after the end of WWII, but now it is back and close to the Venezuelan coast.
The Netherlands are now playing the role of junior partner of the U.S. in the Caribbean. Different spy planes have been detected above Venezuela. An American Boeing RC-135 has taken off at different times from Curaçao and has been detected over Venezuelan air space.
Filed under: chavez, CIA, cocaine, colombia, Colonialism, Communism, corruption, Coup, Dictatorship, drug smuggling, drug trafficking, ELN, Empire, FARC, guerilla war, guerilla warfare, Hugo Chavez, impirialism, latin america, marxism, meddling, Military, military base, Military Industrial Complex, nation building, obama deception, obamas war, occupation, Oil, proxy war, resource war, secret war, socialism, Uribe, Venezuela, war on drugs, War On Terror | Tags: Alvaro Uribe, Gustavo Marquez, National Liberation Army, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
War threat between Venezuela and Colombia increases
UK Telegraph
November 15, 2009
Tensions between the countries reached a new high after the Colombian military arrested four Venezuelan soldiers, just days after Mr Chavez told his army to “prepare for war” with Colombia.
The Venezuelan ambassador to Bogota, Gustavo Marquez, said that the seriousness of the situation could not be overstated and that “there is a pre-war situation in the entire region”.
Diplomatic relations between the South American neighbours are frozen and on Saturday President Chavez escalated the war of words with President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia by saying there was no chance of dialogue.
“Uribe is not a politician, he comes from the world of paramilitaries, of drug trafficking, of shady business deals, and he is capable of anything,” the Venezuelan leader said.
“He is a very dangerous man as he has no principles or ethics,” Mr Chavez added.
The broadside came after Colombia detained four members of the Venezuelan National Guard in a boat allegedly on Colombian territory in the remote border province of Vichada. Colombia said yesterday that it would deport the men back to Venezuela.
Tensions between Presidents Uribe and Chavez have escalated in recent months as the two leaders have become increasingly suspicious of each other.
Colombia’s Marxist rebels, the Guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the smaller National Liberation Army (ELN), are known to have bases within Venezuela from where they plan and launch attacks on Colombia’s US-backed army.
Mr Chavez hotly denies any links with the rebels, even though there have been seizures of Venezuelan arms and munitions in FARC camps.
Venezuela’s president is angry at an agreement signed earlier this month between Bogota and Washington under which Colombia allows the US military to use seven bases across the country, turning the Andean nation into America’s regional military hub.
Mr Chavez, who accused Washington of being behind a 2002 coup attempt, insists that the US is planning to attack Venezuela to secure control of massive oil reserves. The Venezuela leader believes that Colombia will now be the launch pad for any US attack.
President Uribe is trying to diffuse tensions since Mr Chavez began blocking the entry of Colombian goods, something which is costing the fragile economy hundreds of millions of pounds.
He stated that the captured Venezuelan soldiers would be returned as quickly as possible and “carry with them the message that here their affection for our Venezuelan brothers and that this affection is unquenchable”.
Mr Chavez has ordered another 15,000 soldiers to take up positions along the 1300-mile frontier, while Colombia has created a new division of its army to guard a strategic stretch of the border.
Analysts worry that Marxist rebel groups could manipulate the troop build-up by starting a firefight, sparking a war between the two countries.
Chávez tells Venezuela to get ready for war with Colombia
Colombian president Uribe meets with U.S. president Obama
Irish Times
November 10, 2009
VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT Hugo Chávez has told his country to prepare for a possible war with Colombia, as diplomatic and border tensions between the ideologically opposed Andean nations deteriorate to their lowest level in more than a year.
Mr Chávez used his weekly television show, Aló Presidente , to denounce an agreement between Colombia and the US that allows the US military to use seven bases in Colombia. Mr Chávez warned these could be used for an attack on Venezuela.
Ordering troops to the frontier, he said the army could not afford to waste a day and that “we must prepare ourselves for war and help the people prepare for war, because this is the responsibility of all”.
The Colombian and US governments insist the bases are only for use against drug traffickers within Colombia. But Mr Chávez has denounced the pact as part of a US plan to try to dominate a region that in recent years has moved out of its traditional Washington orbit under a new generation of left-wing leaders, of whom Mr Chávez is the most radical.
Supporting their claims about the bases agreement, the Venezuelans have cited a US air force document presented to the US Congress in May. It says one of the bases provides a “unique opportunity” for “conducting full-spectrum operations throughout South America”, which it describes as a “critical region” under constant threat from “anti-US governments”.
On his television programme, Mr Chávez said that “the government of Colombia is not in Bogotá, now it is in Washington”, and warned US president Barack Obama that any US intervention launched from Colombia would spark a “100 years’ war”.
Colombia said it would raise Mr Chávez’s comments with the UN Security Council and the Organisation of American States.
Last year Mr Chávez ordered troops to the frontier live on Aló Presidente following Colombia’s bombing of a rebel guerrilla base hidden on the Ecuador side of the two countries’ border.
This latest round of tensions started with the signing of the bases agreement at the end of last month, and deteriorated last week when Venezuela said Colombian right-wing paramilitaries were responsible for killing two Venezuelan soldiers on its territory.
Colombian rebels and paramilitaries operate right along the border with Venezuela. Leading political allies of Colombian president Álvaro Uribe face investigations into their alleged links with the country’s paramilitaries.
Colombia, meanwhile, accuses Mr Chávez of providing covert support to the Farc guerrilla group.
In recent years Venezuela has embarked on an arms buying spree which it says is necessary to offset strategically the US-bankrolled military in Colombia.
Colombia is the fifth-biggest recipient of US military aid after Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel and Egypt.
Colombia’s army is double the size of Venezuela’s and battle-hardened after decades fighting left-wing guerrillas in the continent’s most protracted insurgency.
Economic mismanagement means that Venezuela is heavily dependent on Colombian food imports despite its own vast tracts of rich tropical farmland.
Despite a decade of increasingly hostile relations, Venezuelan imports of Colombian foodstuffs have ballooned, accounting for most of the $7.2 billion (€4.8 billion) in bilateral trade between the two countries last year.
Filed under: 2008 Election, Argentina, Arizona, Barack Obama, bernanke, Bill Clinton, Bolivia, brazil, Britain, CAFTA, Canada, Central Banks, CFR, Chile, colombia, Euro, Europe, european union, FARC, Federal Reserve, George Bush, global elite, global government, Globalism, Hugo Chavez, i-69, John McCain, Mexico, Military, NAFTA, NAFTA Superhighway, NAU, New World Order, North American Union, paraguay, Peru, Real ID, Ronald Reagan, single currency, South America, South American Union, SPP, trans texas corridor, TTC, United Kingdom, uruguay, us sovereignty, Venezuela | Tags: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
South American Union To Have Single Currency
Natural News
June 21, 2008
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva recently revealed that the South American countries are planning for a common currency as part of the integration of the individual countries into the Union of South American Nations. This integration is patterned after the formation of the European Union, and parallels the plan for the North American Union.
The union of South American nations would create a trade block designed to be competitive with the European and North American trade blocks. Central to the formation of the union is the creation of a central bank to oversee the new common currency that would replace the currencies of the individual countries in the block. In a recent broadcast, President Lula stated that he sees the implementation of this plan as not being a fast one.
In his message, the president stressed the need to help the countries of South America that are economically weak, such as Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia. “We have to help them because the stronger the countries in South America economically are, the more tranquility, peace, democracy, trade, companies, jobs, incomes and development”, he is quoted at ((http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/…) .
Another unfolding feature of the South American Union similar to that of the North American Union is its dependence on newly created infrastructure. The South American alliance will promote the cross-nation construction of railroads, highways, bridges and transmission lines that will connect the entire region resulting in smooth interaction and movement within the trading block. The NAFTA and CAFTA Superhighways epitomize the infrastructural development of the North American Union trading block.
The union plan also calls for a regional defense council, apparently the beginning of the imposition of a regional government. This council would resolve regional conflicts, promote military cooperation and allow for the regional coordination of weapons production, much as the military integration of Canada and the U.S. initiates the unification of governments in the North American Countries.
The plan to establish a new common currency for the Union of South American Nations is the latest development in the initiation of common currencies representative of multi-country trading blocks. The euro was the first trade block currency, established as part of the European Union. The amero is the name of what may be the North American Union’s counterpart to the euro, debuting after economic integration and homogenization of Mexico, the U.S. and Canada have been completed, at exchange rates that represent the lowered standard of living of the Americans and the Canadians.
Critics of the Union of South American Nations’ efforts to establish a common currency see it as playing right into the hands of the world banking cartel. The clustering and assimilation of currencies facilitates the eventual merger into a one world currency promoted by the Council on Foreign Relations and its political puppets. They see the move toward the South American Union with its single currency as easily fitting with the European Union and current efforts to establish the North American Union. Once the formation of these major trading blocks is completed, the next step would be the unification of the blocks into a one world government.
This one world government is sometimes referred to as the New World Order. The Council on Foreign Relations has openly stated that its intentions are to bring about the surrender of the sovereignty of the national independence of the U.S. with the aim of creating a one world government. The Council, referred to as CFR, has influence in all vital areas of American life and around the world. Members have run or are running the major media outlets including NBC, CBS, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and many other publications.
CFR members dominate the political world. U.S. presidents since Franklin Roosevelt have been CFR members, with the exception of Ronald Reagan. CFR members also dominate the academic world, top corporations, unions and the military. They are on the board of directors of the Federal Reserve. Barack Obama and John McCain are CFR members, as well as the Bushes and the Clintons. There are many corporate members of the CFR. CFR plans are not subject to the scrutiny, debate, or vote of the people. Discussion of the plans has been conspicuously absent from the endless debating of the presidential candidates.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7417896.stm
Arizona Governor Approves Prohibition on Real ID
http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Feature-Article.htm?InfoNo=034608
Bill C-51 Codex & The SPP
http://intelstrike.com/?p=277
SuperCorridor Defeat? Don’t Bet On It
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2008/06/supercorridor-defeat-dont-bet-on-it.html
Comments At 4th Annual North America Forum
http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/home/Frontpage/2008/06/13/02404.html
North American Union agenda whether Canadians want it, or not, is a top priority for elite interests
http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/home/Frontpage/2008/06/13/02404.html
Filed under: Argentina, Bolivia, brazil, Britain, Central Banks, Chile, colombia, Europe, european union, FARC, global elite, Globalism, Hugo Chavez, NAU, New World Order, North American Union, paraguay, Peru, single currency, South American Union, United Kingdom, uruguay, Venezuela | Tags: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
South American Union Formed
BBC
May 24, 2008
The leaders of 12 South American nations have formed a regional body aimed at boosting economic and political integration in the region.
At a summit in Brazil, they signed a treaty which created the Union of South American Nations (Unasur).
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the move showed that South America was becoming a “global player”.
But tensions between several members will make it difficult for the group to achieve its goals, observers say.
Mr Lula said at the summit in Brasilia that the differences between some Unasur governments were a sign of vitality in the region.
“The instability some want to see in our continent is a sign of life, especially political life,” Mr Lula said.
“There’s no democracy without people [protesting] in the streets,” he added.
The treaty envisages that Unasur will have a revolving presidency and bi-annual meetings of foreign ministers.
Prior to the Brasilia summit, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez described the “empire” of the United States as Unasur’s “number one enemy”.
Mr Chavez is embroiled in a bitter diplomatic row with his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe – a staunch US ally – over Colombian claims that Venezuela has been helping to finance the activities of the Colombian Farc rebels.
The Unasur members are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.
South America considers single common currency
Gulf Times
May 28, 2008
BRASILIA: South America is thinking of creating a common currency and a central bank along the lines of those in the European Union’s eurozone, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said yesterday.
The idea is a logical next step following the signing last Friday of a treaty creating a Union of South American States that aims to promote joint regional customs and defense policies, Lula said during his weekly radio broadcast.
“Many things still haven’t been realised. We are now going to create a Bank of South America. We are going to move forward so in the future we’ll have a single central bank, a common currency,” he said.
But, he added: “This is a process. It won’t be something that happens quickly.”
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela all signed up to the Unasur treaty creating the regional union during a ceremony in Brasilia last Friday.
The entity’s goal is to bring together two trade blocs within South America, Mercosur and the Andean Community, and to integrate the region.
Brazil is also pushing for a regional defence council that could be used as a forum to settle inter-regional disputes as well as formulate joint policies.
Lula said the creation of Unasur was “the realisation of a dream,” and evidence of remarkable economic and political progress South American nations have made in recent decades.
Filed under: airstrikes, CIA, cocaine, cocaine trafficking, colombia, Communism, Coup, DEA, death squads, drug smuggling, drug trafficking, FARC, George Bush, Hugo Chavez, military strike, money laundering, neocons, NYSE, Raul Reyes, Saber Rattling, Troops, Venezuela, Wall Street | Tags: Ecuador, James Esposito, Rafael Correa, Thomas M. Kent, Victor Ricardo
The Murder of Raúl Reyes: Border War or Wall Street Mafia Hit?
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars
March 3, 2008
From Bloomberg:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s orders to close his Bogotá embassy and send tanks to the border raise tensions beyond his previous rhetoric and to the point where miscalculation could trigger a military clash.
Chavez, who ordered 10 armored battalions to the border yesterday, said Colombia’s air strike March 1 on a rebel camp in Ecuadorean territory risks a regional war. He pledged to support Ecuador under any circumstances. The raid killed Raul Reyes, reputed to be second in command of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
If we are to follow the corporate media line, Chávez and Ecuador’s Rafael Correa, both oft characterized as rotten commies, are to blame for the prospect of impending war with Colombia, even though Colombia is at fault for a violent violation of Ecuador’s national sovereignty.
After all, according to Reuters, “Colombia apologized to Ecuador for the troops crossing the frontier, but said the attack on a rebel camp was necessary after its forces came under fire from across the border.” In order to minimize this egregious violation — consisting of air strikes and the deployment of ground troops — we are told “Colombia, a U.S. ally, also said it found documents at the [FARC] jungle camp that linked the leftist government of Correa to the Marxist guerrillas — a charge Ecuador dismissed because the evidence was not presented for public scrutiny.”
It is part and parcel of an ongoing demonization process, designed to portray Chávez and Correa in league with FARC and the Devil. FARC was long ago fingered as a “narco-terrorist group” by the United States and the shadowy “revolutionary,” i.e., communist, organization plays a leading villain role in the State Department’s International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, issued this month.
Of course, all of the supposedly diligent work under the guise of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, passed in June 2000, may be considered little more than a useless spinning of wheels — and a huge squandering of tax payer money — so long as the Drug Enforcement Administration ignores ground zero of the illegal drug trade, situated squarely on Wall Street. It should come as no surprise Wall Street has traditionally gone where the money is, no matter communism or any other distant second consideration, stuff good for Sunday school lectures but useless for investment purposes.
Back in 1999, Agencia de Noticias Nueva Colombia reported Richard Grasso, president of the New York Stock Exchange, flying off to southern Colombia to meet with the recently deceased Raúl Reyes:
Grasso was accompanied by Finance Minister Juan Camilo Restrepo and presidential commissioner for peace Victor Ricardo. The Argentine daily Clarin reported that Grasso was also accompanied by NYSE vice president Alain Murban and adviser James Esposito. The meeting took place inside the rebel-controlled peace zone in an area near the village of La Machacha, in southern Caqueta department… Local media said Grasso had asked to meet a representative of the FARC’s high command to discuss foreign investment and the future role of US businesses in Colombia.
But why would a NYSE big fish want to talk with a communist revolutionary about “foreign investment and the future role of US businesses in Colombia”?
It’s a no-brainer, really. Because the numero uno foreign investment opportunity in Colombia is anchored in the drug trade, not bananas and cut flowers. Plenty of money is to be made laundering drug money, a Wall Street specialty.
It was not reported what became of the discussion between Grasso and Reyes, but it really does not matter because Reyes is now pushing up daisies. The State Department may finger FARC as the cause of all evil in the region, but it completely ignores the group’s competitor, namely Colombia’s infamous rightwing paramilitary death squads, in the business of laundering drug money and with the assistance of DEA agents, according to Department of Justice attorney Thomas M. Kent.
Is it possible Colombia crossed over into Ecuador to assassinate Raúl Reyes in classic Tony Montana fashion? After all, the State Department has long accused Reyes of setting the FARC’s cocaine policies, including the production, manufacture, and distribution of thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States and the world.
Of course, the corporate media is not interested in the underlying dynamic of the situation in South America, as the point is to portray Hugo Chávez as a warmonger, increasingly so especially after the CIA failed to overthrow him and the Venezuelan leader takes pleasure in thumbing his nose at Bush and his coterie of neocons.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f0f70450-e879-11dc-913a-0000779fd2ac.html
Chavez Sends Tanks To Colombian Border
http://www.reuters.com/..RSS&feedName=worldNews&rpc=22&sp=true
U.S. Could Intervene As Chavez Preps For War
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages..14&in_page_id=1811
Chavez Warns Of War With Colombia
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8V5H5TG1&show_article=1
noworldsystem.com 