Hugo Chavez does not measure up to Alvaro Uribe
By Aleksander Boyd
London 17.01.05 | In spite of the desperate efforts of Hugo Chavez to come out clean of the Granda affair, the more he talks the deeper he buries himself, which, to yours truly, is an extraordinary tragicomedy worth following. If my memory serves me well, one of the very first things that Chavez uttered about the alleged kidnap of Granda in Caracas was that Venezuela's sovereignty was violated by the bounty hunters who arrested the terrorist leader while condemning the business of offering ransom for the capture of outlaws. Colombia's President Uribe invited Chavez to hold an open debate on the issue in the presence of regional leaders. Chavez, the modern day Robin Hood, the reincarnation of Che Guevara, the saviour of the disenfranchised, got scared shitless and decided not to assist. Mind you one thing is to pontificate for the peanut gallery and an entirely different beast is to hold an unscripted debate with someone who does not owe him allegiance in a medium alien to his customary, and unchallenged, talkathons.
The problem, in Chavez' view, seems to stem from the fact that some people, eager to make a quick buck, indeed decided to capture Granda and cash the ransom. He even suggested that such practice that of putting a price on terrorist's heads, should not be utilized.
As ever hypocrisy shines through for the Chavez regime has put a price on political enemies and urges both Venezuelans and foreigners to "provide pertinent information that could lead to the capture of..." [sic]. Furthermore "the identity of any person collaborating in this regard shall be kept secret..." [Sic].
He then gets his sycophants to write "Venezuela’s Chavez Proposes “Face-to-Face” Meeting with Colombia’s Uribe", when the whole world has bear witness of his backpedaling on this issue.
Colombia's Uribe on the other hand has conducted the affair, as the statesman that he is, producing communiqués that first of all defend the right of Colombians to live free from terrorism, stressing upon international agreements that establish that democratic nations should stand firm before terrorism and those who conduct such activities. Obviously, Fidelito does not know any of that and is quite evident that he does not have the balls to talk about this issue out in the open with Uribe. Chavez' position is not enviable; either way his revolutionary political persona will get done by the international community, lead by Uribe, and his terrorist pals.
I am as Venezuelan as Hugo Chavez and I do not, for one minute, feel that my country's sovereignty has been violated by bounty hunters performing tasks of 'social prophylaxis'. Rather my country's sovereignty has been violated by Hugo Chavez, in cohort with foreign powers (read Fidel Castro, FARC, ELN, etc.), ergo as I have already said I can only wish for more bounty hunters to show up to rid us of Chavez' comrades.
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