Alvaro Uribe is full of hot air and seeking scapegoats in Venezuela or Brazil




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International


Posted: Monday, March 17, 2003 - 5:48:03 PMBy: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Alvaro Uribe is full of hot air
and seeking scapegoats in Venezuela or Brazil
Veteran political analyst and historian, Domingo Alberto
Rangel writes that despite mobilizing money, arms and troops on a level never
seen before, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has little to show for his 7
months in power.
While Rangel accepts the argument that Uribe hasn’t had
much time, he's careful to note that Uribe has failed to come up with anything
tangible, and instead has reverted to looking for scapegoats in Venezuela and
Brazil.
Uribe claims that Colombian guerrillas harassed by the
Colombian army have sought refuge across the border. “It’s logical that a
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) or National Liberation Army of
Colombia (ELN) combatants from Arauca should seek refuge in neighboring Apure
State, or one in Vaupes would cross over into Brazil ... but what about the
Choco guerrilla fighters on the border with Panama or Putumayo next to Ecuador?
They aren’t going to walk across Colombia into Venezuela or Brazil.”

Rangel contends Colombian guerrillas have been in and
out of Venezuela since the times of Perez Jimenez (1953-1958).
The Venezuelan army is sedentary … "the military will only
leave garrisons if it feels the whip or is struck a bolt of lightning … we have
a sedentary army and a well-trained and implanted guerrilla force … it’s like
trying to swat a fly with a knitting needle. “
The presence of guerrillas in Venezuela or in Brazil "for
a couple of hours," Rangel contends, is not the problem ... “if Uribe was
finishing off the guerrillas, as he claims, a few here or in Brazil would be of
little consequence … guerrilla columns are important because they have not
suffered any serious setback."