[News] Venezuela VP: US Wants to Destroy Latin American Unity

[News at freedomarchives.org]

Venezuelanalysis - Mar 24, 2005
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1558

Venezuela VP Responds to Rumsfeld:
U.S. Wants to Destroy Latin American Unity

“The escalation of these attacks confirms the existence
of a plan by the U.S"

By Cleto A. Sojo

Caracas, Venezuela. Mar 24, 2004 (Venezuelanalysis.com).- Venezuelan Vice
President Jose Vicente Rangel, released a statement yesterday, responding to
comments made by U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld about Venezuela,
during his recent visit to Brazil.

“The Lord of War, Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense of the United States
made statements following the same line of repeating the usual impertinences
about Venezuela,” said Rangel who also denounced the existance of a campaign
seeking "to create enemies for Venezuela, among our friends."

On Wednesday, Rumsfeld expressed preoccupation about Venezuela’s announced
purchase of 100,000 Russian rifles, saying that it could contribute to
further destabilize Latin America.

"I can't imagine why Venezuela needs 100,000 AK-47's.," Rumsfeld said during
a news conference in Brasília. "I just hope that, personally hope, that it
doesn't happen
 I can't imagine that if it did happen, that it would be good
for the hemisphere," he added.

Venezuela has announced the purchase of AK-47 rifles and 10 military
helicopters from Russia, as well as Super Tucano light-attack propeller
planes from Brazil, allegedly to improve patrol efforts along the porous and
extensive border with Colombia.

Rangel said that the military equipment that Venezuela is currently
acquiring is of a defensive nature, and criticized the U.S. high military
budget. “In Venezuela we are worried about the elevated military spending by
the United States, which stands around 450 billion dollars 
 what are they
fearing in order to justify such high military spending?,” he asked.

The Vice President said that the preemptive war doctrine currently being
implemented by the U.S. government, and its alleged desire to control the
world’s resources, are behind the U.S. high military budget. “The whole
world is worried,” he added.

Rangel characterized the increasingly frequent negative statements about
Venezuela by U.S. officials as a campaign aimed at destabilizing the South
American country. “The escalation of these attacks confirms the existence of
a plan by the U.S. government against Venezuela,” he said.

Efforts to Improve Relations

The most recent impasse in the war of words between the two countries comes
after Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez took a first step towards thawing
tensions between the countries by announcing that Venezuela wants to improve
with the U.S. "We want to continue to send 1.5 million barrels of oil to the
United States on a daily basis and to continue doing business
 and together
contribute to development and peace in the entire world," Chavez said last
Thursday.

Last week, Venezuela’s Foreign Minister, Ali Rodriguez, met with the US
Ambassador to Venezuela, William Brownfield, to discuss the situation
between the two countries. According to a Foreign Ministry press release,
Rodriguez emphasized that the meeting served to establish "communication and
consulting mechanisms aimed at reaching the best possible relations between
the two countries." "We had a cordial exchange about affairs of mutual
interest," Rodriguez said.

A non-official translation of the statement by Vice-President Rangel
follows:

The Lord of War, Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense of the United States
made some statements following the same line of repeating the usual
impertinences about Venezuela. These impertinences inspired by the goal of
getting involved in the internal politics of other nations and violate our
sovereignty, continue being utilized systematically by U.S. officials.

In Venezuela we are worried about the elevated military spending by the
United States, which stands around 450 billion dollars, representing a
spending that surpasses that of the 18 other military powers that follow
them. The U.S. alone absorbs 36% of the world's military spending. This has
generated great preoccupation in the majority of the countries around the
world, since there is no justification for the building of so many devices
for war.

As the government of that country has said in repeated opportunities, they
are the greatest military power in history, and its objectives are to
control and assure its hegemony over the rest of the world. What are they
fearing in order to justify such increase in military spending? Can anybody
believe such country could be invaded by a foreign power?  What is really
happening is that the U.S. has developed a very new doctrine through which
justify their arms buildups. This is the frequently mentioned preventive
war. For them it is not about peace, but about preventive war. This is the
doctrine that has the whole world worried because, as we all know, it has
already been put into practice.

That is the big difference with the arms purchase which we are doing in an
act of political sovereignty, with the only goal of defending our
independence and guaranteeing the self-determination of our people. These
weapons, as everybody knows, don't have the potential for the aggression of
anybody. They are exclusively for defense, to which we have a right as all
nations of the world do.

We have to say even more: in this moment the U.S. has started a new phase in
its imperialist aggression against our homeland. They started with a
propaganda war, and now the increase their attack, using one of the
promoters of the so called Star Wars, who seeks to create enemies for
Venezuela, among our friends. The North American strategy is aimed at
destroying Latin American unity, and take possession of our energy
resources. Venezuela is just one step in their global ambitions.

The escalation of these attacks confirms the existence of a plan by the U.S.
government against Venezuela. This plan was tested on April 11 of 2002, with
the coup d'etat against President Hugo Chavez, and continued developing with
the strike and oil sabotage starting December 2, 2002, with systematic
statements by spokespersons of the Bush administration, with a media
campaign such as those that the empire has unleashed through history
whenever they want to consummate an aggression, or through the assassination
attempts of that have been detected, and other series of efforts to
destabilize.

Definitely, the U.S. is worried because Latin America is liberating itself.
This preoccupation is that of the slave owner who does not accept the
liberating struggles of the oppressed peoples. The U.S. preoccupation with
Venezuela is because our country is building a true democracy of equals,
something that the U.S. does not carry through neither with their own
people, nor with the international scene.

The U.S. preoccupation arises because we are building another world, a world
in which other worlds can fit. They are worried that the South also exists.

  From the south we respond, with dignity as our flag, and understanding the
big responsibility we have as the descendants of San Martin, Artigas,
O'Higgins, Abreu e Lima, and Bolivar.

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