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Venezuelanalysis - Mar 24, 2005<br>
<a href="http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1558" eudora="autourl">
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1558<br><br>
</a>Venezuela VP Responds to Rumsfeld: <br>
U.S. Wants to Destroy Latin American Unity<br><br>
“The escalation of these attacks confirms the existence <br>
of a plan by the U.S"<br><br>
By Cleto A. Sojo<br>
<br>
Caracas, Venezuela. Mar 24, 2004 (Venezuelanalysis.com).- Venezuelan
Vice<br>
President Jose Vicente Rangel, released a statement yesterday, responding
to<br>
comments made by U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld about
Venezuela,<br>
during his recent visit to Brazil.<br><br>
“The Lord of War, Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense of the United
States<br>
made statements following the same line of repeating the usual
impertinences<br>
about Venezuela,” said Rangel who also denounced the existance of a
campaign<br>
seeking "to create enemies for Venezuela, among our
friends."<br><br>
On Wednesday, Rumsfeld expressed preoccupation about Venezuela’s
announced<br>
purchase of 100,000 Russian rifles, saying that it could contribute
to<br>
further destabilize Latin America.<br><br>
"I can't imagine why Venezuela needs 100,000 AK-47's.,"
Rumsfeld said during<br>
a news conference in Brasília. "I just hope that, personally hope,
that it<br>
doesn't happen… I can't imagine that if it did happen, that it would be
good<br>
for the hemisphere," he added.<br><br>
Venezuela has announced the purchase of AK-47 rifles and 10 military<br>
helicopters from Russia, as well as Super Tucano light-attack
propeller<br>
planes from Brazil, allegedly to improve patrol efforts along the porous
and<br>
extensive border with Colombia.<br><br>
Rangel said that the military equipment that Venezuela is currently<br>
acquiring is of a defensive nature, and criticized the U.S. high
military<br>
budget. “In Venezuela we are worried about the elevated military spending
by<br>
the United States, which stands around 450 billion dollars … what are
they<br>
fearing in order to justify such high military spending?,” he
asked.<br><br>
The Vice President said that the preemptive war doctrine currently
being<br>
implemented by the U.S. government, and its alleged desire to control
the<br>
world’s resources, are behind the U.S. high military budget. “The
whole<br>
world is worried,” he added.<br><br>
Rangel characterized the increasingly frequent negative statements
about<br>
Venezuela by U.S. officials as a campaign aimed at destabilizing the
South<br>
American country. “The escalation of these attacks confirms the existence
of<br>
a plan by the U.S. government against Venezuela,” he said.<br><br>
Efforts to Improve Relations<br><br>
The most recent impasse in the war of words between the two countries
comes<br>
after Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez took a first step towards
thawing<br>
tensions between the countries by announcing that Venezuela wants to
improve<br>
with the U.S. "We want to continue to send 1.5 million barrels of
oil to the<br>
United States on a daily basis and to continue doing business… and
together<br>
contribute to development and peace in the entire world," Chavez
said last<br>
Thursday.<br><br>
Last week, Venezuela’s Foreign Minister, Ali Rodriguez, met with the
US<br>
Ambassador to Venezuela, William Brownfield, to discuss the
situation<br>
between the two countries. According to a Foreign Ministry press
release,<br>
Rodriguez emphasized that the meeting served to establish
"communication and<br>
consulting mechanisms aimed at reaching the best possible relations
between<br>
the two countries." "We had a cordial exchange about affairs of
mutual<br>
interest," Rodriguez said.<br><br>
A non-official translation of the statement by Vice-President Rangel<br>
follows:<br><br>
The Lord of War, Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense of the United
States<br>
made some statements following the same line of repeating the usual<br>
impertinences about Venezuela. These impertinences inspired by the goal
of<br>
getting involved in the internal politics of other nations and violate
our<br>
sovereignty, continue being utilized systematically by U.S.
officials.<br><br>
In Venezuela we are worried about the elevated military spending by
the<br>
United States, which stands around 450 billion dollars, representing
a<br>
spending that surpasses that of the 18 other military powers that
follow<br>
them. The U.S. alone absorbs 36% of the world's military spending. This
has<br>
generated great preoccupation in the majority of the countries around
the<br>
world, since there is no justification for the building of so many
devices<br>
for war.<br><br>
As the government of that country has said in repeated opportunities,
they<br>
are the greatest military power in history, and its objectives are
to<br>
control and assure its hegemony over the rest of the world. What are
they<br>
fearing in order to justify such increase in military spending? Can
anybody<br>
believe such country could be invaded by a foreign power? What is
really<br>
happening is that the U.S. has developed a very new doctrine through
which<br>
justify their arms buildups. This is the frequently mentioned
preventive<br>
war. For them it is not about peace, but about preventive war. This is
the<br>
doctrine that has the whole world worried because, as we all know, it
has<br>
already been put into practice.<br><br>
That is the big difference with the arms purchase which we are doing in
an<br>
act of political sovereignty, with the only goal of defending our<br>
independence and guaranteeing the self-determination of our people.
These<br>
weapons, as everybody knows, don't have the potential for the aggression
of<br>
anybody. They are exclusively for defense, to which we have a right as
all<br>
nations of the world do.<br><br>
We have to say even more: in this moment the U.S. has started a new phase
in<br>
its imperialist aggression against our homeland. They started with a<br>
propaganda war, and now the increase their attack, using one of the<br>
promoters of the so called Star Wars, who seeks to create enemies
for<br>
Venezuela, among our friends. The North American strategy is aimed
at<br>
destroying Latin American unity, and take possession of our energy<br>
resources. Venezuela is just one step in their global ambitions.<br><br>
The escalation of these attacks confirms the existence of a plan by the
U.S.<br>
government against Venezuela. This plan was tested on April 11 of 2002,
with<br>
the coup d'etat against President Hugo Chavez, and continued developing
with<br>
the strike and oil sabotage starting December 2, 2002, with
systematic<br>
statements by spokespersons of the Bush administration, with a media<br>
campaign such as those that the empire has unleashed through history<br>
whenever they want to consummate an aggression, or through the
assassination<br>
attempts of that have been detected, and other series of efforts to<br>
destabilize.<br><br>
Definitely, the U.S. is worried because Latin America is liberating
itself.<br>
This preoccupation is that of the slave owner who does not accept
the<br>
liberating struggles of the oppressed peoples. The U.S. preoccupation
with<br>
Venezuela is because our country is building a true democracy of
equals,<br>
something that the U.S. does not carry through neither with their
own<br>
people, nor with the international scene.<br><br>
The U.S. preoccupation arises because we are building another world, a
world<br>
in which other worlds can fit. They are worried that the South also
exists.<br><br>
From the south we respond, with dignity as our flag, and
understanding the<br>
big responsibility we have as the descendants of San Martin,
Artigas,<br>
O'Higgins, Abreu e Lima, and Bolivar.<br>
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