Venezuela's Chavez and Al Qaeda
By Curtis Reed, Free Venezuela USA
16.02.07 | So what are we to think of Al Qaeda's broadcast order for its followers to attack oil producing nations outside the Middle East, especially Mexico, Canada, and Venezuela? It is interesting to note the different responses from the countries that find themselves in the bullseye: Canada has made no public comments. Mexico says that all threats are worrisome, and PEMEX took steps to secure Mexican oil facilities.
But most interesting is the response of Venezuela. In an article published in el Universal (eluniversal.com) the Admiral Luis Cabrera, asked for verification of the "illogical" threat attributed to Al Qaida against Venezuela. In the perspective of the Chavez government (or at least, their public perspective), it "sounds illogical that al Qaeda, which is against the American imperialism, should attack another state that is also fighting against the same imperialism." A quick translation: Hey, al Qaeda, we should be allies, not enemies! Lighten up!
That statement, in and of itself, is enlightening. It is an admission that the Chavez regime sees itself as a moral supporter of al Qaeda!
Cabrera goes on to say: "There are serious doubts about the September 11 attack and it appears that it was a self-inflicted attack by the US government, so this may be part of the same kind of plan." This statement is unbelievable. Imagine that. Military officials from a nation that frequently issues statements that it is "friendly" to our country also publicly promotes the theory that the US government mounted the September 11 attacks as an excuse to attack Afghanistan and Iraq, and now is behind the al Qaeda threat against Venezuela, as a way to cover for US military planned attacks on Venezuelan oil production!
This bizarre theory might be discounted as nothing more than the lunatic ramblings of nutty conspiracy theorists, but we need to see it in the larger picture of what we know about the Venezuelan government.
First off, let's dispense with thinking that the Venezuelan government is a democratic government and represents the people. True, there have been repeated elections there over the past 6 years, but every one of them has been hotly contested as being fraudulent scams. And before we take the word of bumbling idiots like Jimmy Carter and the Organization of American states, it would behoove us to remember that they had certified the elections results of Peru's Fujimori until it was discovered later that the election had been completely fraudulent. Ooops! Now the Chavez regime, which had already destroyed the independent functions of the legislative and judicial branches, has been granted dictatorial powers by the parliament, and the "President" now rules by decree. How democratic is that?
Secondly, this is the same Hugo Chavez who led a bloody, illegal coup against his own elected government, stated that the September 11th attacks were justifiable, made public statements of support for the Taliban, al Qaeda, Saddam Hussein, Mohamar Qadaffi, Hezbollah, the PLO and Hamas, as well as lauding the acts of Venezuelan terrorist Carlos the Jackal (Ilich Ramirez Sanchez), Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Robert Mugabe, North Korea's Kim Jong Il, Mao (yes, that Mao), and just about every other despot and mass murderer you can think of. Not to mention his homoerotic love affair with Fidel ("I'm calling you wearing nothing but my boxers") Castro. And, perhaps not coincidentally, the Chavez regime has been accused of providing visas to "foreign agents" (Middle Eastern terrorists?), sheltering terrorist organizations, and being uncooperative in the war on terror.
Third factor to consider: Chavez's empire is built upon an enigmatic deck of cards. Venezuela's heavy sour crude cannot be sold to just anybody in the world, very few nations can receive and process it, and the number one consumer is-you guessed it- the United States. And it is the petroleum wealth generated by this oil that gives Chavez the power he has so far enjoyed--power to buy consciences, bribing and blackmailing individuals and less powerful nations alike all around the Americas. Take away that oil and -well, the house of cards crumbles.
What's more, Chavez needs the price of oil to be considerably higher than it is now. He has committed his nation to a very expensive socialist program, and spends billions of dollars on new weaponry, buying the debt of other nations (such as Argentina and Ecuador) to buy their support. So it is easy to understand why Chavez has aggressively embarked on trips around the globe to try to get the other OPEC nations to prop up the price of oil. Lately, Saudi Arabia and other nations have refused to comply, to Chavez's chagrin.
So, golly, what is a girl to do?
How convenient it is that, under these conditions, al Qaeda suddenly declares that the above listed oil producers shall be attacked to bring down the evil empire.
Why is that convenient? Because most of the wild fluctuations in the price of oil is fueled not only by current supply and demand, but by speculation about future supply and demand.
The oil producing nations of the Middle East are not gentle, liberal democracies. They are hard core police states, which is why terrorist activities in places like Saudi Arabia never seem to get very far. But Mexico, Venezuela and Canada are, by contrast, "soft targets". So widely publicised threats against these nations will almost certainly result in an instant hike in oil prices. Voila, the deck of cards is stabilized by threats of terrorist attacks!
Golly gee, Beaver. Are you saying that there may be collusion between the Chavez government and al Qaeda to drive oil prices up?
I'm saying: MAYBE.
But either way, Chavez is the winner. Why?
If al Qaeda attacks Venezuela, oil prices go up, and Chavez can declare that he is the victim of an unprovoked US military attack, not an al Qaeda attack, and that the US is trying to frame those poor Arabs again.
If al Qaeda threatens but doesn't attack, the oil prices can still go up, enabling Chavez to buy weapons, consciences, and time.
One more benefit to Chavez: if al Qaeda publicly states that Venezuela should be attacked, it is difficult for the US to accuse Venezuela of being complicit with al Qaeda and helping that group.
So this threat may also give Chavez diplomatic cover. Let's take a wild speculation here: what if Chavez actually helped triangulate a plot for his pals in Iran or North Korea to hand a nuke to al Qaeda, and then slip it into the US. Sound wild? Well, don't forget, Venezuela and Iran just announced they are going to start a DIRECT flight from Iran to Caracas, the only stop over being in -surprise- Syria.
If that bomb goes off in the US, and the US military suspects his involvement, it will be so easy now to throw up his hands and say, "who…ME? I'm a victim here too! I'd NEVER be involved in anything like that---even if we ARE allies!"
send this article to a friend >>