[BRIEF NOTE] Another pointless war?
Mar. 4th, 2008 10:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldThis time, in northern South America.
It may be worth noting that these three countries either are or could be included in the Middle America region, defined by geopoliticians including the Caribbean isl;ands, Central America, and the northern coastline of South America, frequently under indirect American control. (The remainder of South America, including relatively more powerful and more distant countries like Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, hasn't fallen into the American sphere of influence nearly so much.) The United States' involvement in what would otherwise be an unfortunate border dispute was pretty much preordained.
It may also be worth noting that radical Venezuela and Ecuador, the latter reputedly more moderate than the former, are allied ideologically against pro-American and conservative Columbia. That Venezuela and Ecuador, unlike Columbia, belong to OPEC implies interesting things about the political economy of oil.
U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's government of "provocative maneuvers" against Colombia and vowed to oppose any act of aggression in the Andean region.
"I told him that America would continue to stand with Colombia as it confronts violence and terror and fights drug traffickers," Bush told reporters after a phone call with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
Bush was quick to single out Chavez, a strident anti-U.S. critic, as a culprit in a crisis that has engulfed the Andean region after a raid by Colombian troops into Ecuador on Saturday that killed a top commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC.
Ecuador and Venezuela have responded by cutting diplomatic ties with Colombia, a close U.S. ally, and ordering troops to their neighbor's borders.
Uribe has accused Chavez and his ally Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa of supporting the FARC. The group is seen as a terrorist group by Uribe's government and the United States.
Bush said Uribe had updated him on the situation, "including the continuing assault by narco-terrorists as well as the provocative maneuvers by the regime in Venezuela."
"I told the president that America fully supports Colombia's democracy and that we firmly oppose any act of aggression that could destabilize the region," he added.
Bush urged Republican and Democratic lawmakers to put aside differences over a free trade agreement with Colombia and approve the pact in a show of support for Bogota.
"If we fail to approve this agreement, we will let down a close ally. We will damage our credibility in the region and we will embolden the demagogues in our hemisphere," Bush said.
It may be worth noting that these three countries either are or could be included in the Middle America region, defined by geopoliticians including the Caribbean isl;ands, Central America, and the northern coastline of South America, frequently under indirect American control. (The remainder of South America, including relatively more powerful and more distant countries like Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, hasn't fallen into the American sphere of influence nearly so much.) The United States' involvement in what would otherwise be an unfortunate border dispute was pretty much preordained.
It may also be worth noting that radical Venezuela and Ecuador, the latter reputedly more moderate than the former, are allied ideologically against pro-American and conservative Columbia. That Venezuela and Ecuador, unlike Columbia, belong to OPEC implies interesting things about the political economy of oil.
