 The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan |
Dirty Little Secrets
Venezuela Calls For War
Venezuela is trying to gather international support for a proposal to give leftist rebels in Colombia international recognition and legalize rebel bases in Venezuela. The leftist rebels are currently considered international terrorists. This proposal is pitched as part of a peace deal with Colombia. Those rebel groups, particularly FARC, are continuing to fall apart inside Colombia. The only aspect of FARC that prospers is the work with the cocaine gangs. But the drug operations are also being forced out of the country, with a lot of cocaine now being shipped to foreign markets via Venezuela. Meanwhile, while the economy in Colombia prospers, Venezuela suffers from rising unemployment, crime rates and inflation, caused by government efforts to run the economy from the top. President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is obsessed with establishing a socialist empire in the region, and is not discouraged by the fact that his economic theories don't work (they never have, anywhere, but Chavez refuses to believe that.) Most Venezuelans now believe that Chavez and his economic theories are a failure. Chavez considers this treason, and is spending more of his dwindling resources on building a police state, complete with an armed militia loyal to him, not Venezuela. Chavez is trapped by his own impractical ideas and megalomania. It is feared that he will seek to go out in a blaze of glory, making war on Colombia, or on real or imagined internal enemies. Many Venezuelans fear that Chavez is on his way to establishing a full blown police state and taking control of everything. This could trigger a civil war. Meanwhile, any attempt to invade Colombia would be disastrous. Chavez has wrecked his armed forces, replacing trained officers with men selected primarily for their loyalty to Chavez. These commanders have been ordered to forget about traditional military thinking and adopt bizarre doctrines invented by Chavez. Even many of the officers promoted for their loyalty to Chavez, are having second thoughts about all this. To deal with this, Chavez is forming a large civilian militia, led by politicians loyal to him. Nicaragua and Cuba have pledged to provide Venezuela with military support if invaded by Colombia and the United States. This is what Chavez claims is going on, but he, Nicaragua and Cuba know it's all for show. The show goes on. Colombia and the U.S. deny they are planning to invade, and Chavez calls this part of a dastardly plot.
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