[News] US Military Aggression - drones against Venezuela
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Sun Dec 20 21:40:10 EST 2009
US Military Aggression against Venezuela escalating
By Eva Golinger
Original at:
<http://www.chavezcode.com/2009/12/us-military-aggression-against.html>http://www.chavezcode.com/2009/12/us-military-aggression-against.html
Caracas, 20 December Venezuelan President Hugo
Chávez revealed today on his Sunday television
and radio program, Aló Presidente, that unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones,
have illegally entered Venezuelas airspace
during the past several days. A few days ago,
one of these military planes penetrated Venezuela
as far as Fort Mara, a Venezuelan military fort
in the State of Zulia, bordering Colombia. The
drone was seen by several Venezuelan soldiers who
immediately reported the aerial violation to
their superiors. President Chávez gave the order
today to shoot down any drones detected in
Venezuelan territory. Chávez also directly
implicated Washington in this latest threat
against regional stability by confirming that the drones were of US origin.
On Thursday, President Chávez denounced military
threats against Venezuela originating from the
Dutch islands Aruba and Curazao, situated less
than 50 miles off Venezuelas northwest coast.
Both small islands host US air force bases as a
result of a 1999 contract between Washington and
Holland establishing US Forward Operating
Locations (FOLs) in the Caribbean colonies.
Originally, the contract stipulated US military
presence in Aruba and Curazao solely for
counternarcotics missions. However, since
September 2001, Washington uses all its military
installations to combat perceived terrorist
threats around the world. The military bases in
Aruba and Curazao have been used for
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaisance
missions against Venezuela during the past several years.
In 2006, Washington began conducting a series of
high level military exercises using Curazao as
the principal zone of operations. Hundreds of US
aircraft carriers, warships, combat planes, Black
Hawk helicopters, nuclear submarines and
thousands of US military troops have been
engaging in different military exercises and
missions in the Caribbean region during the past
three and a half years, causing substantial alarm
and concern to nations in the region,
particularly Venezuela, which has also been
subject to hostile and aggressive diplomatic actions from Washington.
In 2008, the Pentagon reactivated the Navys
Fourth Fleet, charged with defending US interests
in the Latin American region. The Fourth Fleet
was deactivated in 1950, after accomplishing its
original defense mission during World War II. The
fleets reactivation nearly 60 years later was
perceived by a majority of nations in Latin
America as a direct threat to regional
sovereignty and provoked South American countries
to establish a Defense Council to deal with
external threats. The Pentagon responded by
proudly admitting the Fourth Fleets reactivation
was a showing of US force and power in the
region and a demonstration that the US will
defend its regional allies. This was perceived
as direct support to Colombia, and an attempt to intimidate Venezuela.
On October 30, Colombia and the US signed a
military cooperation agreement authorizing US
occupation of seven military bases in Colombian
territory and all other installations as
required. The agreement is seen as the largest US
military expansion in Latin American history.
Although the two governments publicly justified
the agreement as an increased effort to fight
drug trafficking and terrorism, official US Air
Force documents revealed that the US would
conduct full spectrum military operations
throughout South America from the Colombian
bases. The Air Force documents also justified the
disproportional military expansion as necessary
to combat the constant threat
from anti-US
governments in the region. The documents further
revealed that the US presence in Colombia will
increase the success of Intelligence,
Surveillance and Reconnaisance operations and
will improve the Pentagons capacity to conduct
expeditionary warfare in Latin America.
Since 2006, Washington has classified Venezuela
as a nation not fully collaborating with the war
against terror. In 2005, Venezuela was labeled
by the State Department as a nation not
cooperating with counter-narcotics operations.
Despite no substantive evidence to prove such
dangerous accusations, the US has utilized these
classifications to justify an increase in
aggression towards the Venezuelan government. In
2008, the Bush Administration attempted to place
Venezuela on the list of State Sponsors of
terrorism. The initiative was unsuccessful
primarily because Venezuela is still a principal
supplier of oil to the US. Should Washington
consider Venezuela a terrorist state, all
relations would be cut off, including oil supply.
Nevertheless, Washington still views Venezuela as
a major threat to US interests in the region. The
US is particularly concerned about Latin American
nations engaging in commercial relations with
countries such as China, Russia and Iran,
perceived as economic threats to US control and
domination in the region. Last week, Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton issued a warning to
countries in Latin America that have recently
forged relations with Iran, such as Bolivia,
Brazil, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
I think that
if people want to flirt with Iran, they should
take a look at what the consequences might well
be for them, and we hope that they will think
twice
, Clinton stated during remarks made
regarding the State Departments Latin American policy.
The Colombian government announced yesterday that
a new military base will be built right near the
border with Venezuela, with funding and equipment
from the United States. Colombias Defense
Minister Gabriel Silva also announced the
activation of two air battalions at other border
areas near Venezuela. The new military base,
located in the Guajira peninsula, which borders
the Venezuelan State of Zulia, would have up to
1,000 troops and would also allow the presence of
US armed forces and private military contractors.
This announcement clearly ups the ante against Venezuela.
Todays statements made by President Chávez
regarding the US military drones discovered
violating Venezuelan territory just days ago
further escalate the growing tensions between
Venezuela and Colombia. The MQ-1 Predator UAV, a
type of combat drone, has been used over the past
year in Afghanistan and Pakistan to assassinate
suspect terrorists. The drones are equipped with
Hellfire missiles and are capable of hitting
ground targets in sensitive areas.
Venezuela is on high alert in the face of this
dangerous threat. Chávez made the statements
regarding the drone detection during the
launching of the new National Police Force, a
recently created communal police force directed
at preventive security operations and community-based service.
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