Venezuela rejects Colombian Military incursion of its territory (readable version) UPDATED III

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Venezuela rejects Colombian Military incursion of its territory (readable version) UPDATED

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Dear readers, there was a censuring bug that prevented me from publishing story fully in its first version. I do offer my apologies for that most unexpected inconvenience.

Caracas, Venezuela, 17 May, 2008. Today, the Venezuelan Minster of Foreign Affairs published a public communiqué  to reject the recent incursion of a Colombian military commando into its territory on 16 May 2008. The 60 armed military men entered 800 meters inside the Venezuelan territory at Apure state- South West part of the country. In order to avoid confrontation, the military Colombian commando was asked by Venezuelan authorities to return to the other side of the frontier.

The Venezuelan government rejected the Colombian military incursion and recalled International Law provisions on the inviolability of a State territory. This event adds to the already strained bilateral relations between <?xml:namespace prefix = u1 /><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Caracas and Bogotá. After the INTERPOL forensic report on the FARC laptop was unveiled in Bogotá, President Chavez declared that the bilateral relations were under revision again. Furthermore, there were acrimonious exchanges against Colombian President Alvaro Uribe during the just concluded LATAC-EU Summit in Lima, Peru. Both Presidents of Ecuador and Venezuela disdained the seriousness of Colombian allegations of their links with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Oddly, Pro Government journalist and former Vice President José Vicente Rangel envisaged this incursion in the last few days. The Colombian Minister of Defence, Jose Manuel Santos, is a rather known enemy of Venezuela. His family owns a major Colombian newspaper with links to Venezuelan opposition news network Globovison.  

In a escalating response, Colombia announced it had confiscated arms bearing the Venezuelan flag and army emblem. Colombian authorities stated they found 293 AK 47 at Santander near the Venezuelan frontier. Apparently they seem to belong to a notorious drug trafficker Daniel Rendón Herrera. However, the timing of this "finding" and previous US concerns over the arm policies and military build up of Venezuela seem to suggest a war propaganda tactics. According to Prinside, Colombia and US had expressed concerns the Venezuelan arms would end up in drug traffickers and FARC members.

Later, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe stated his country position during a press conference on the occasion of the current visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Bogota. If army commando did trespass the Venezuelan boudary, Colombian would offer excuses, Uribe said. If they did not cross the common boundary, Colombia would only explain its position to Venezuela, he added.  This incursion incident could prove another sign of the internal dispute between President Uribe and his US pampered Defense Minister, Jose Manuel Santos. In recent weeks, there have been signs of power clashes between them. Santos has been responsible for a similar illegal incursion into Ecuadorian territory. On that occasion, Colombia justified its armed action in the name of the fight against FARC terrorism.

Despite the gravity of the incident in the current tense bilateral relation, Venezuela has restrained from escalating the crisis.  President Hugo Chavez has not made any comments on the Colombian incursion yet. He is expected to make a firm stand during his weekly TV show Aló Presidente on Sunday. Disruption of diplomatic relations could take place again.-

PS: On Sunday 18 May, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez did not broadcast his weekly TV show "Aló Presidente". Official sources stated cancellation was due to the coverage on the campaign of internal election at the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). Chavez´s absence suggests the Venezuelan government might be trying to avoid escalation of the boundary crisis with Colombia. Furthermore, interpretations on the incursion continue to flow in the media. On one hand and just like it was done after the invasion of Ecuadorian territory on 1 March 2008, Colombian Minister for Defence, José Manuel Santos, has repeatedly denied there was an incursion on Venezuelan Territory. On the other side, Venezuelan Minister for Information, Andrés Izarra said there are pictures and videos that back the government allegations against Colombia. Minister Izarra stated such evidence would be revealed on due time. The timing of the revelation appears as another sign of the government desire to abate the crisis. It could also mean there is a strong diplomatic offensive in sight. 

While the government of Colombian stated that it has not received the protest note of Venezuela regarding the disputed incident in there common frontier, Chile expressed its anger at Chavez formally. It has emerged that Chile handed  a protest note to Venezuelan Ambassador in Santiago, María Lourdes Urbaneja, on Friday. It rejected comments made by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on their Police chief and INTERPOL Vice-President, Arturo Herrera. Commenting on the INTERPOL forensic report of the FARC laptop, Chavez mentioned Herrera had violated human rights during the Pinochet dictatorship. Chilean government denied such allegations as inaccurate.

Sources: VTV, Globovion, Unionradio, El Universal,  RNV, El Nacional, El Comercio, Prinside, Vanguardia Liberal,  El Tiempo, Caracol, RCN, Telesur, YVKE, AlJazeera, BBC Mundo,  

Related stories: INTERPOL: FARC Raul Reyes laptop not modified by Colombia (updated II), Chavez: Government of Colombia is provoking Venezuela into a war, Documents indicate that Chavez helped Colombia rebels, US: No evidence to include Venezuela in sponsoring terrorism list, OAS: Venezuela has no links to terrorism (updated II), Startling Evidence Links Hugo Chavez to FARC, Colombia claims Venezuela sought FARC for training, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela crisis: OAS findings (updated III), Four FARC Hostages released (Updated III),Chavez: FARC hostages liberated (updated IV)