Tag Archives: guerrillas

May
20
2011
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In Case You Missed It… Articles Roundup Week of 5/20/11

In this week’s News Roundup…A German newspaper reports on the alleged construction of Iranian missile bases in Venezuela; suspected drug lord Walid Makled reveals deals with several Venezuelan government subsidiaries; and Mr. Chávez is forced to implement energy rationing measures in an attempt to combat rolling blackouts, while the opposition gains momentum.

‘Die Welt’: Iran Building Rocket Bases in Venezuela, Jerusalem Post
German newspaper says Iranians paid cash to build mid-range missile launch pads on Paraguana Peninsula in Venezuela. According to the daily, Iranian engineers visited the site in February.

Makled had Deals with PDVAL and CASA, El Universal
The relationship between the Makled Group – the economic empire led by alleged drug kingpin Walid Makled – and state-run oil holding Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) was not limited to Venezuelan Petrochemical Corporation (Pequiven). It also made business in the food sector.

The FARC Enablers, Foreign Policy
When the Colombian military raided a camp of the narco-terrorist group FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) across the border in Ecuador in 2008, the resulting intelligence haul from computers belonging to FARC capo Raúl Reyes revealed the shocking extent to which the group conspired and colluded with the radical populist governments of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and Rafael Correa in Ecuador.

Venezuela adopts electricity rationing measures in response to blackouts, The Washington Post
Venezuela’s government is urging people to save energy and has begun rolling blackouts in some parts of the country after two major power outages in the past month. Some units at thermoelectric plants have not been operating, and the government is taking steps to bring them back on line, Electrical Energy Ministry official Igor Gavidia said Thursday. Speaking to reporters, he acknowledged there are “weaknesses” in the country’s power plants. Vice President Elias Jaua urged Venezuelans to save energy, saying demand has been growing and at certain times of day power usage “reaches the electrical generation capacity.”

Venezuela: Chávez Trying to Eliminate Opponent, Hudson New York
The race for Venezuela’s presidential election has already started. Given the fact that Chávez controls the main media outlets, opposition candidates know that the competition will be very stiff and very unfair.

 
May
13
2011
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In Case You Missed It… Articles Roundup Week of 5/13/11

In this week’s News Roundup…Hugo Chávez blazes the campaign trail amidst accusations of collaboration between his administration and Colombia’s main rebel terrorist group, FARC. Meanwhile, blackouts and electricity rationing continue to plague Venezuela’s industries and citizens.

 

Hugo Chávez on campaign trail – again, Financial Times
There may be another year and a half to go, but that hasn’t stopped Hugo Chávez from already starting his campaign for re-election. It is, after all, what he does best – he has won over a dozen elections since coming to power. Ironically, though, the fact that Chávez has spent so much of the past 12 years campaigning – and not enough time solving Venezuela’s problems – may explain why he feels he needs to spend so long this time persuading his people to re-elect him, given that the country’s doggedly persistent problems remain all too evident.

 

Factbox: Key facts about Colombia’s FARC guerrillas, Reuters
Colombian leftist guerrillas may have tried to assassinate rivals of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez and trained his supporters in urban warfare, an analysis of thousands of seized rebel documents shows. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, is at its weakest in decades after the deaths of top commanders and a string of desertions prompted by government bounties and improved military intelligence and training. But the rebels remain a potent force in some areas, helped in part by their involvement in the lucrative drug trade and alliances with other armed groups.

Venezuela Asked Colombian Rebels to Kill Opposition Figures, Analysis Shows, The New York Times
Colombia’s main rebel group has an intricate history of collaboration with Venezuelan officials, who have asked it to provide urban guerrilla training to pro-government cells here and to assassinate political opponents of Hugo Chavez, according to a new analysis of the group’s internal communications.

 

Venezuela begins electricity rationing after blackouts, BBC
Venezuela is rationing electricity after blackouts affected nearly half the country earlier this week. A senior energy ministry said power would be cut off for three hours a day in 19 of the country’s 23 states. The authorities hope the move will help make the distribution system more stable. They say the blackouts were caused by failures in transmission lines. Critics blame the government for not investing enough in new electricity projects. Last year, Venezuela had to cope with rolling blackouts for months.

 
May
11
2011
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Confiscated FARC Files Show Longstanding Ties with Chávez Government

Colombia’s main rebel group and top Chávez government officials – including President Hugo Chávez himself – have a complicated and often turbulent history of cooperation. That is the news making headlines all over the world today, following Tuesday’s unveiling of a study of thousands of files belonging to FARC’s former second in command, Raúl Reyes, that were confiscated in a 2008 raid in Ecuador.

The 240-page analysis, “The FARC Files: Venezuela, Ecuador, and the Secret Archive of Raul Reyes,” was released by London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) after a 2-year investigation of more than 8,000 documents found in eight computer hard drives. In its study, the IISS concluded that:

–Reyes met with President Chávez shortly after he took office in 1999 and offered military and monetary assistance designed to “change the military balance of power in Colombia.”

–The Venezuelan government funded FARC’s office in Caracas and President Chávez allowed the FARC “to use Venezuelan territory for refuge, cross-border operations and political activity, and effectively assigned the group a role in Venezuelan civil society.”

–Two of Mr. Chávez’s main liaisons with the FARC were Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, the number two at Venezuela’s National Intelligence Directorate (Disip) and Freddy Bernal, the former mayor of the municipality of Libertador.

–President Chávez promised $300 million in 2007 to the FARC.

–Following a 2002 coup that briefly ousted Chávez from power, the FARC provided training in guerrilla and urban warfare to various militias that were formed to defend Mr. Chávez.

–In September 2002, FARC’s man in Caracas, Rodrigo Granda, sent a message saying that “Amin,” his contact in Venezuela’s Disip, needed experts in small arms and explosives “to get rid of counter-revolutionaries.” Later that year, opposition members were shot and bombs were planted during public protests against the government.

–A 2002 “Contingency Plan” developed with Chávez’s approval specified that FARC-trained paramilitary forces would be used to “‘attack, neutralize, or liquidate’ opposition supporters, political leaders and resources through sabotage and targeted assassination.”

The Venezuelan strongman has said the documents are fake propaganda aimed at harming his government. The documents, however, have been authenticated by Interpol. Last month, Mr. Chávez admitted publicly that some of his political allies had collaborated with Colombian rebels, but insisted they “went behind all our backs.”

The analysis also details various instances in which President Chávez has betrayed the FARC. In April, Mr. Chávez ordered the extradition to Colombia of Joaquín Pérez, a suspected senior FARC operative who had been living in Sweden.

The IIS analysis also concluded that Ecuador President Rafael Correa – a close personal friend of Mr. Chávez – was directly involved in requesting financial backing from the FARC for his presidential campaign. The IISS study comes at a time when Caracas and Bogotá have dramatically improved their ties after a period of incendiary bilateral relations. Only time will tell how long the honeymoon will last.