The Venezuela-Columbia Spat

Aug 16, 2010 Editorial

Now that Venezuela and Columbia – the latter under its newly-installed President – have restored diplomatic ties, it might be as good a time as any for us to review the bases of their estranged relationship. It might, after all, offer a perspective on the increasingly closer relations that we have been cultivating with Venezuela under its mercurial leader Hugo Chavez.
Venezuela, we should never forget, has a claim enshrined in its Constitution, over two-thirds of our national territory. The nationalistic fervour aroused after 1962 when the old “we wuz robbed” claim was invoked, is a potent rallying cry that is buried deeply in the Venezuelan psyche.
Back in 2008, Chavez withdrew its Ambassador to Bogota in protest over the then President of Columbia, Alvaro Uribe’s decision to launch a raid into Equador in pursuit of FARC guerrillas that had been wrecking havoc in his country. Uribe provided evidence purporting to prove that the guerrillas had been supported by Chavez.
The latter hotly denied the charges – even though he could not deny that FARC guerrillas had consistently retreated into Venezuelan territory. He accused the Uribe administration, not for the first time, of serving as a proxy for the US “war” against his Bolivarian revolution. Uribe was an openly strong ally of the US, which had committed billions to the Columbian government in its war against the drug cartel that had taken control of large swathes of the country.
Last year, Chavez raised the ante against Columbia, when the latter agreed to significantly raise the number of American bases on its territory: Venezuela broke off its trade and other economic links that amounted to US$7 billion annually. It also substantially boosted the troops along their 2,200 km border. Chavez was convinced – and from his rhetoric apparently he still is – that the US intended to invade Venezuela, using Columbia as a front. He announced publicly that in such an eventuality he was prepared to cut off supplies of Venezuelan oil to the US. Columbia has repeatedly denied that it ever intended to attack Venezuela.
As we have explained in the space, Chavez has never been shy of boasting about his aim to restore the “United States of South America” dream of his idol Simon Bolivar. He has gambled that his populist policies will earn him the continued support of the poor in achieving his grandiose and millennial vision. That support has been steadily undermined by the stagnation of the Venezuelan economy (this year it will be the only Latin American one to post a negative growth) due to the misguided policies imposed by Chavez and his ideologues.
In what has now become an established pattern, Chavez, who is determined to have his policies ratified through elections, always raises the foreign bogeyman when such elections are in the offing. Since Chavez has faced the electorate thirteen times since 1998, there have been a lot of fires stoked since then. Juan Manuel Santos, who was sworn in just last week as President of Columbia and had been the immediate past Defence Minister, has gone out of his way to lessen the tensions with Venezuela and Chavez. He personally invited the latter to his inauguration and initiated the talks that were held in the Columbian town where Bolivar had resided.
With Parliamentary elections due late next month, few observers expect that Chavez will respect the desire of Santos for lowered tensions. They expect that any time soon, Chavez will find (or manufacture) a pretext for berating the policies of its neighbour. Nationalistic fervour has never failed to rally the poor. We on Venezuela’s western border do not have to wait very long for a test of Chavez perennial electoral ploy. The parliamentary elections are seen as a precursor to next year’s presidential elections – which Chavez ensured he could participate in by abolishing term limits on the presidency.
If as expected Chavez’s support will be shown to have been dwindling, who knows? Maybe he will find it expedient to raise the matter of the “historic wrong” that had been inflicted by the “imperialists” on its western border?

Latest News

The Venezuela-Columbia Spat

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| February, 14th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Slingerz FC shines at Guyana Energy Conference and Youth Forum

Guyana’s rising Chess stars take on Barbados

Elite clubs will challenge KFC monopoly on team...

Bristol named manager as Guyana gears up for 2025...

BCB puts a halt to cricket season due to...

Changes made to KMTC Phagwah Horse race meet

Features/Columnists

Crowds, chaos and complaints

CARICOM Nations Should Respond Together To new U.S. Policies

Guyanese leaders better learn from Ukraine

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

The Venezuela-Columbia Spat

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| February, 14th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]