Venezuela’s Efforts Against Drugs and Terrorism
Campaign
Against Venezuela
On May 15, 2006, the
U.S. State Department decided to restrict the sale of weapons to
Venezuela. After conducting what they
called "a hard-eyed assessment of whether or not a country is fully
cooperating with the United States in fighting terrorism," State
Department spokesman Sean McCormack said they made the decision to impose an
arms “restriction.”
The ruling, however,
overlooks recent actions by the Venezuelan government to work with Colombian
and U.S. officials to reduce narco-trafficking and reign in alleged terrorist
leaders in the region. Such cooperation has led to high level members of the
FARC being captured in Venezuelan territory and turned over to Colombia, as well
as major international drug busts.
Drugs and Terrorism
Venezuela has been cooperating with Colombia and the United
States to combat narco-trafficking and terrorism in South America. Most notably this has been done through
Venezuela’s increase in border patrols at the Colombian border. The objective has been two-fold: to reduce
the amount of narcotics passing through Venezuela’s borders as well as to
ensure the capture and return of Colombian rebels who try to illegally cross
the Venezuelan territory.
On May 15, 2006, 2006 President Uribe praised Chavez for his
help in facilitating the peace process in Colombia:
Uribe also replied today to the praises that Chavez gave him from London
and assured that the government of Caracas has greatly facilitated the peace
explorations with the ELN guerrilla, DPA emphasized.
The Colombian president recognized that Venezuela has played a very
important role in the peace exploration dialogues with the ELN and the transfer
of the rebel chief Erlinton Chamorro, alias “Antonio Garcia”, to Cuba.
I called President Chavez and asked him to transport “Antonio Garcia” to
Cuba, I then asked him for the favor of housing him in Venezuela. He is in
Venezuela today, protected by the Venezuelan government not clandestinely, but
as a petition of the government of Colombia”, he added.
As well, Venezuela was instrumental in the capture and
return of FARC rebel leader Gentil Alvis Patino to Colombia. The following was
also reported in El Universal, a
Venezuelan news daily: “Uribe revealed that this past Thursday he communicated
with Chavez and asked him to facilitate the transportation of [a] rebel
leader. `He [Chavez] accepted and
Venezuela did facilitate this, and I wish to give President Chavez my thanks
publicly as a champion in this effort so that afterward no one starts to offer
conjecture or distortions of this reality [that this happened as a result of my
request to President Chavez].’[1]
Venezuela has undeniably shown their true commitment against
terrorism. Venezuela has called on the White House to honor its
international treaty obligations and either extradite or prosecute Luis Posada
Carriles for one of the bloodiest attacks on a civilian airliner in the annals
of civil aviation. In 1976, he blew up
a passenger plane with 73 innocent persons on board. Venezuela continues waiting for the White House to take action.
Military Equipment
The State Department’s arms
restriction follows recent U.S. attempts to thwart Venezuela's purchase of
weapons from other countries. The U.S. blocked the sale of Spanish patrol boats
to Venezuela as well as the sale of Brazilian aircraft. Ironically, these were to be used to further
increase drug patrols and narco-trafficking missions in Venezuela. Moreover, regarding the Venezuelan purchase
of Russian Rifles, 100,000 rifles for a 124,000 person army to replace
50 year old Belgian rifles does not constitute a danger to anyone. Indeed,
Colombia has publicly announced to the contrary. In an Inter-Press Service News
Agency Report from May 16, 2005 it was noted that in February 2005, Colombian
Foreign Minister Carolina Barco said Venezuela's arms purchases ”respond to
Venezuela's internal needs.”
The Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, and
Defense Minister Jose Bono characterized the sales not as arms but equipment to
be used for non military purposes. Specifically, the Foreign Minister said, “I
mentioned and I explained to Secretary of State Rice what has been called this
so-called sale of arms. It has not been
a sale of arms. It has been a sale of
military equipment, that means planes, transport planes, patrol boats.”
Moratinos also underscored that the deal involved “no military offensive
equipment”.[2] On November 28, 2005, the Associated Press
reported that the Defense Minister “Bono said neither the boats nor transport
planes were armed and that the patrol planes were only equipped for
self-defense. 'This is not a warplane,'
he said.”[3]
The president of the Brazilian
Aeronautics Company (Embraer), Maurício Botelho, stated this on January 20,
2006, regarding the US veto on the sale of 24 Embraer Tucano aircrafts to
Venezuela: “Botelho declared his faith in a solution to the impasse, chiefly
because the aircraft involved are not for belligerent use. ‘The plane we are
talking about is not an attack plane. Its purpose is law enforcement in
missions directed against drug and arms trafficking,’” declared Botelho. The
Brazilian Minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim, remarked that Brazil was
not in agreement with the US position. (“Embraer comments on impasse blocking
sale of airplanes to Venezuela” Agencia Brasil 23 January, 2006).
Currently of all the nations on whom
the U.S. has imposed an arms ban, Venezuela is the only one that has not been
designated by the U.S. Department of State as a state sponsor
of terrorism. Venezuela embraces the principle that a terrorist is not only he who engages in acts of
terrorism, but also he who shelters terrorists.