“Save Monterrey” reads the lead editorial in Wednesday’s edition of the Mexican daily El Universal. Mexico’s wealthiest city, less than 100 miles from the U.S. border, has rapidly plunged from relative tranquility to narco-related violence. In the past week, cartels shut down the city by blockading main roads, exploded a device outside the Televisa TV affiliate, and murdered the mayor of the nearby town of Santiago.
Mexican authorities say they have seized 180,000 weapons in the past 3 ½ years, and that 191 members of the military (not police) were killed by narcotraffickers in the same period. In all, AFP reports, 694 members of Mexico’s armed forces have been killed on anti-drug operations since 1976, when they first took on the counternarcotics role.
According to The Economist, Venezuela’s Interior Ministry reported 12,257 homicides during the first 11 months of 2009. A study carried out by the country’s National Statistics Institute at the request of the Vice President’s Office found 19,133 murders in 2009. This is an extremely high figure for a country of 28 million people; Colombia, with 45 million people, reported 15,817 or 17,717 homicides in 2009, depending on the source.
In Bogotá, meanwhile, the coroner’s office recorded 938 murders during the first seven months of 2010, up from 905 during the same period in 2009. Due to population growth, however, the city’s overall murder rate declined by 0.9 percent.
A few weeks ago, polls for Brazil’s October 3 presidential elections were showing a dead heat between Dilma Rousseff of the ruling Workers’ Party and José Serra of the opposition Social Democracy Party. Now, with a month and a half to go, Rousseff has opened up a 43% to 32% lead.
Brazil was the destination of a visit from Ecuador’s foreign minister this week, seeking to patch things up after Ecuador’s 2008 expulsion of a Brazilian construction company. Brazil, at the beginning of September, will also be the locale of Juan Manuel Santos’s first foreign trip as president of Colombia.
Colombia’s new foreign minister, María Ángela Holguín, hinted that the U.S.-Colombia defense cooperation agreement might be revised to take neighboring countries’ concerns into account. (Colombia’s Constitutional Court struck down the October 2009 agreement on Tuesday, ruling that Colombia’s Congress must first ratify it.) “Not only Venezuela, but UNASUR in general, has asked that some paragraphs be introduced to assure them that absolutely nothing would happen with the Colombia bases,” Holguín said. “We’re certainly going to look at that in our study of the agreement.”
“The United States should now consider the benefits of supporting a peace process to try to end a conflict that has raged for more than four decades,” writes Milburn Line of the University of San Diego’s Joan Kroc Institute, in a strong piece about Colombia published in the International Herald Tribune.
Claudia López, the Colombian researcher who played a key role in breaking the “para-politics” scandal, has released a new book about “how mafiosi and politicians reconfigured the Colombian state. “There is no proof so far linking him [former president Álvaro Uribe] directly with illegal structures. But it is clear that all illegal actors on the right wing inserted themselves into his political program and he did nothing to avoid it. Eight of every ten para-politicians were from his coalition,” López tells “La Silla Vacía” in a wide-ranging interview.
In a piece published Thursday to the OpenDemocracy.net website, I point out that Juan Manuel Santos – if he continues to follow some of the policies that have marked his few days in office – may find himself on a nasty but necessary collision course with the mafiosi and para-politicians in the coalition he inherited from Uribe.
The WOLA/TNI “Drug Law Reform in Latin America” project unearths a 1998 letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan signed by, among others, Juan Manuel Santos. It calls for “a frank and honest evaluation of global drug control efforts” because “we believe that the global war on drugs is now causing more harm than drug abuse itself.”
El Tiempointerviews a former FARC guerrilla, a recent deserter, who was present at the site where hostages were being kept when the Colombian military rescued them in July 2008. He says that he and many others were at first accused of being traitors to the guerrilla group: “They chained my hands and feet, they took me someplace over there [where FARC leader alias “Mono Jojoy” was headquartered] and I spent a month and thirteen days detained with security all around.”
Chile’s defense minister traveled to Lima to meet with his Peruvian counterpart, where they agreed to do more to coordinate their defense expenditures. Meanwhile the head of Bolivia’s army traveled to Santiago to meet with his Chilean counterpart.
85 percent of Latin Americans oppose going the Costa Rica/Panama/Haiti route and abolishing their armed forces. However, at least 1 in 5 Guatemalans, Paraguayans and Uruguayans would be in favor of it. This is one of many interesting findings in a new FLACSO region-wide poll about governance and democracy, whose entire contents are viewable here.
The Obama administration appears to be close to restoring Clinton-era “people-to-people” contacts with Cuba, the Washington Post revealed Wednesday. This would mean licensing several currently prohibited types of U.S. citizen travel to the island.
Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernández named a new armed-forces chief and a new police chief this week. Both said that fighting crime and narcotrafficking would be their main priority.
A car bomb went off in central Bogotá at 5:30 Thursday morning, injuring 9 people. It is believed that the target was the nearby headquarters of the Caracol radio network. President Juan Manuel Santos did not immediately blame it on the FARC guerrillas. A pro-FARC website claims the attack was carried out not by guerrillas but by “mafias,” though the methods resemble those used in the 2003 bombing of the El Nogal social club a few blocks away, a crime the FARC also denied but was later revealed to have committed. The “La Silla Vacía” website lays out the cases for why the bombing might be, or might not be, the work of the FARC: “Some believe that it was evidently the FARC, since the attack fit within its modus operandi and its motives. Others, on the contrary, believe that it is a message from the extreme right that Juan Manuel Santos must not move away from the uribista hard line, and that Santos must not open a space for negotiations with the guerrillas.”
Venezuela and Colombia re-established diplomatic relations this week after a meeting between Presidents Chávez and Santos. It remains unclear how the two countries will deal with the issue that has detonated several past crises between the two countries: the presence of FARC guerrillas in Venezuelan territory. Asked by El Tiempo whether there will be “verification of the guerrilla presence in Venezuela,” Colombian Foreign Minister María Ángela Holguín replied, “No. Verification, no. We are looking forward.”
Asked a series of “questions for the record” by Sen. Richard Lugar, U.S. Ambassador-Designate to Venezuela Larry Palmer answered very frankly, using language stronger than the State Department has in the past. (“The Venezuelan government has been unwilling to prevent Colombian guerillas [sic.] from entering and establishing camps in Venezuelan territory. … [Military] morale is reported to be considerably low, particularly due to politically-oriented appointments. … As Cuba and Venezuela increase their military-to-military ties, I am concerned that Cuba’s influence within the Venezuelan military will grow.”) As a result, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has announced that Palmer is not welcome in Caracas. The Washington Post editorial page contends that it would be better for the United States not to have an ambassador at all.
On Tuesday, Colombia’s Constitutional Court will decide whether the country’s new defense agreement with the United States, signed last October, is truly constitutional. The court may require Colombia’s Congress to vote to approve it. Sources tell “La Silla Vacía” that a majority of justices are likely to rule against the agreement.
Starting next month, former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe will be a Distinguished Scholar in the Practice of Global Leadership at Georgetown University.
The new head of Colombia’s armed forces is a Navy admiral for only the second time ever. “La Silla Vacía” (linked for a third time in today’s post) has profiles of President Santos’ new high command. “These men,” reporter Dora Montero writes, “don’t follow the same line as the former high command – led by Gen. Freddy Padilla – that accompanied President Álvaro Uribe for years, and was seen by the rest of the military as more ‘political’ than ‘military.’ … The troops perceive this group of generals as closer to them.” Part of this “closeness,” Montero explains, is a likely willingness to defend the force more fiercely against accusations of human rights abuse.
The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress [PDF] of a possible $162 million sale of nine Blackhawk helicopters to Colombia’s Army, Police and Air Force. Already, “Colombia operates the world’s third-largest BLACK HAWK helicopter fleet,” according to the aircraft’s manufacturer, Connecticut-based Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation.
Three and a half years after adopting a hard-line approach to drug-related violence, Mexican President Felipe Calderón “finally accepted that the strategy had failed to rein in the cartels,” as The Guardianput it. “I know that the strategy has been questioned, and my administration is more than willing to revise, strengthen or change it if needed,” he said in a meeting with opposition leaders this week. Security Secretary Genaro García Luna blamed Mexico’s severe public security setbacks on “at least 30 years of structural abandonment of the country’s police forces.” The Associated Press obtained data indicating a badly broken judicial system: “only about 15 percent of drug suspects detained between December 2006 and September 2009 have been convicted or acquitted.” The Washington Postcovered one strategic change currently underway: a $270 million program of new social spending in Ciudad Juárez, the most violent city in the hemisphere. On his blog, meanwhile, former President Vicente Fox called for the legalization of drugs.
Ecuador’s El Universowrites about the cocaine trade along the country’s Pacific border with Colombia: “Here, an arroba [about 25 pounds] of coca seeds is sold for US$100, according to the campesinos. 40 arrobas can plant a hectare. The crops begin to produce within three months, and every arroba of coca leaf sells for US$15; a hectare produces 70 arrobas. After processing, the growers make basic cocaine paste. 40 arrobas of leaves make a kilo of paste, which in this zone sells for US$1,100.” Elsewhere on the border, in Ecuador’s north-central province of Carchi, El Universocontends that greater government presence has reduced the threat posed by guerrillas and other Colombian armed groups.
Suriname’s former dictator Desi Bouterse, wanted in the Netherlands for narcotrafficking and on trial at home for a 1982 mass murder, was inaugurated as the country’s President on Thursday. A week earlier, reports the U.S. Southern Command, “Six U.S. Army medical personnel traveled to Paramaribo, Suriname, to exchange medical procedures with 45-medical personnel from the Suriname Armed Forces.”
Sixteen U.S. military officers, including seven generals, paid a visit to Managua “to strengthen relations with the Nicaraguan army,” reportsLa Prensa. Meanwhile, McClatchy reports, “entities controlled by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega have received at least $1 billion in no-strings-attached donations through an oil deal brokered by President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.”
The costs of earthquake rebuilding will force Chile to cut its defense budget next year, President Sebastián Piñera explained to the high command.
Argentina’s foreign minister, Héctor Timerman, visited Washington and met with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela will be in China next week for “the fourth round of U.S - China sub-dialogues on Latin America.”
As Brazil’s October 3 elections draw nearer, The Economist reports that Dilma Rouseff, the candidate of President Lula da Silva’s Workers’ Party, is polling at 41 percent, nearly 10 points ahead of opponent José Serra. Earlier in the week, Serra angered Bolivia’s government by claiming that President Evo Morales’s administration has been “lazy with regard to controlling cocaine.” Serra said in May that 80 or 90 percent of cocaine that arrives in Brazil comes from Bolivia; Brazil’s police offer a figure of 59 percent.
A recent poll places Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa’s approval rating at 37 percent. Though Ecuador and Colombia still have not re-established diplomatic relations after a 2008 crisis, Correa attended the August 7 inauguration of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, and urged Santos to visit Quito “quickly.”
A corruption scandal forced the resignation of the chief of Uruguay’s navy, Adm. Oscar Debali.
Adam and Abigail review the week of July 3-9, focusing on massacres in Colombia, state elections in Mexico, Brazil's presidential race, a clandestine submarine in Ecuador, and recent U.S. naval exercises.
Subscribe to the "Just the Facts" podcast here and on iTunes. Thank you for listening.
On Sunday, a Colombian Army jungle raid freed four policemen who had been held hostage by the FARC guerrillas since the 1990s. Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva said that although there was combat, the rescue took place without a single death. It happened less than 20 miles from the site where the 2008 “Operación Jaque” hostage rescue occurred. Details of the operation – in particular, how it happened without the guerrillas carrying out their threat to kill hostages at the first sign of a rescue attempt – are still emerging. We’re posting links to coverage here.
The rescue happened on the same weekend that Colombia’s principal newsmagazine, Semana, reported that the country’s military, angered and “discouraged” by verdicts in high-profile human rights cases, had become almost inoperable. “The situation is so delicate that some analysts have dared to propose it as the reason [the Army] has not repeated its strong blows against the FARC high command, such as the bombing of Raúl Reyes and Operación Jaque in 2008.”
Meanwhile, a week before Sunday’s presidential election runoff in Colombia, former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos leads opponent Antanas Mockus by a broad margin. 66.5 to 27.4 percent, according to the last Gallup poll.
Mexico is angryabout a June 7 incident in which a Border Patrol agent fired across the border at a group of people throwing rocks, killing a 15-year-old boy in Ciudad Juárez. Mexico’s Interior Secretary issued a diplomatic note expressing concern, and legislators of all major parties have called for the agent’s extradition to Mexico. The State Department’s response was terse.
“[M]ost of Chile didn’t notice the dictatorship of Pinochet. On the contrary, they felt relieved,” Chile’s ambassador to Argentina, Miguel Otero, told an Argentine newspaper. Otero downplayed the 1973-1990 dictatorship’s human rights abuses (“everywhere in the world, there are people who abuse their authority”), adding that had it not been for Pinochet’s coup, “Chile would be Cuba today.” The resulting political firestorm not only forced Otero’s resignation; it shone a light on the pro-Pinochet elements in the right-of-center coalition backing recently inaugurated President Sebastián Piñera.
Peru’s defense minister, Rafael Rey, accused the country’s human rights groups of going on a “witch hunt” against the armed forces.
Honduran President Porfirio Lobo claimed that a conspiracy, possibly involving the right wing of his own National Party, is plotting a coup to overthrow him. “I know who you are,” Lobo cryptically warned the alleged plotters, whoever they are.
Though it wasn’t on the official agenda, the question of whether to re-admit post-coup Honduras to the Organization of American States was a dominant point of discussion at the annual OAS General Assembly meeting in Lima, Peru. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made a pitch for Honduras’s reinstatement, but a significant number of countries demand that the Tegucigalpa government take further steps to demonstrate that democracy has truly been restored. Meanwhile, U.S. aid to the Honduran military re-started with the delivery of twenty-five trucks.
Secretary Clinton’s trip to the region was also notable for a surprisingly friendly visit to Ecuador, where leftist President Rafael Correa declared, “The new left that I represent is not anti-anything. We’re not anti-American; we love America.” Correa’s new tone has been marked by kind words from Colombia on border-security cooperation, postponed and less-frequent meetings with Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez, and increasing opposition to the President on Ecuador’s left.
Adam and Abigail discuss Colombia's May 30 presidential vote; the upcoming OAS meeting in Peru; Secretary of State Clinton's planned visit to Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Barbados; and Peruvian President Alán García's meeting with President Obama.
The "Just the Facts" podcast is available here and on iTunes. Thank you for listening.
This week Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela is visiting Ecuador, Colombia and Peru. According to the State Department's press release, the Assistant Secretary will "meet with senior officials to discuss issues of mutual interests, including security cooperation, social inclusion, economic competitiveness and inclusive prosperity, democratic governance, and human rights."
Assistant Secretary Valenzuela was in Ecuador on Monday and Tuesday, where he met with President Rafael Correa, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño, and other government officials. Valenzuela also took time to speak at a conference organized by FLACSO, where he was to speak about Obama's foreign policy (watch video of event here).
On Tuesday afternoon, the assistant secretary continued on to Bogotá, Colombia, where he met with Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva and other top Colombian officials. Today, Valenzuela spoke with over 300 students at the Universidad de los Andes about U.S.-Colombian relations (watch event here), and held a bilateral meeting with President Álvaro Uribe at the World Economic Forum in Cartagena this afternoon.
The Department of State has not released much official information about the trip on its website, and the Assistant Secretary's Twitter account and Facebook page have been relatively quiet.
Below is the information we have gathered about the official meetings in Ecuador and Colombia from press releases issued by the Government of Ecuador, the Government of Colombia, and the media.
In Ecuador
On Tuesday morning, Assistant Secretary Valenzuela met with Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa and some of the top members of his cabinet, including Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño and Defense Minister Miguel Carvajal. Foreign Minister Patiño spoke to the press after the meeting, and said the dialogue between Valenzuela and President Correa was "very positive." According to Patiño, the two spoke about the relationship between the United States and UNASUR (which Ecuador currently chairs) and bilateral relations between Ecuador and the United States.
At the start of the meeting, President Correa said that several media outlets had reported that Valenzuela's visit was meant to "fix bilateral relations," however, he said he didn't "know what is broken."
During the meeting, Ecuador spoke about trade, counternarcotics, and security, among other topics. In terms of trade, Ecuador asked that the United States not renew ATPDEA trade preferences annually, but instead renew for several years to allow for the country to make long-term plans for its trade activities. In terms of security, President Correa told Assistant Secretary Valenzuela that his government is in complete agreement with the United States: "We think that organized crime, be it narcotrafficking, money laundering, ... etc., are the scourge of humanity and we are the first in line in this fight." The President continued, "In the Andean region we are the only country that does not produce drugs. We have trafficking and we are arduously fighting against it. But here, there is zero tolerance, not because it is a priority of the United States, but because it is also our priority. Whatever child that is victim of drugs, whatever crime that is committed in the name of drugs is a crime against us all."
The BBC reported that Assistant Secretary Valenzuela mentioned the United States' concern about Iran's nuclear program during the meeting. In response, President Correa said his government is not interested in entering into talks about Iran's nuclear program, and asked "What does this have to do with selling bananas to Iran? What does this have to do with Iran wanting to finance certain hydro-electric plants?"
Assistant Secretary Valenzuela also brought up concerns about freedom of the press in Ecuador, saying, "it is very important to be sure that effectively there is a dialogue, and a good capacity for expression in all sectors of society." Correa responded that in Ecuador "whoever can say what they desire, when they desire," and freedom of expression in Ecuador is "absolutely guaranteed." He continued, "what happens is that, as it does all over the world, one must be responsible for what they say, and this is what many people do not want."
After the meeting, Assistant Secretary Valenzuela told the press, "we covered many international, hemispheric and, at the same time, bilateral topics ... it was a very amenable and respectful dialogue between two governments committed to seeing how we can advance our bilateral relations."
In Colombia
Upon arriving in Bogotá on Tuesday afternoon, Valenzuela was asked about his statements on the military agreement being negotiated with Brazil. According to the Associated Press, Valenzuela said, "No one, not even I in the declarations that I made in Ecuador, has talked about bases. What I said is that the United States, in its collaboration with other countries....has a series of agreements that are made in regard to security."... "We are negotiating agreements of this type in many parts of the world, I don't want to speak more about this topic. ... The United States is working on this, as it always does...it is part of our normal and daily politics of a country."
Valenzuela also said during the press conference with Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva, "The subject of organized crime is of grave concern to us, the subject of narcotrafficking ... is of grave concern to us. Without a doubt, we are worried about possible threats that could make one country's sovereignty vulnerable in the face of another country."
On Tuesday afternoon, Assistant Secretary Valenzuela met with Minister of the Interior and Justice Fabio Valencia Cossio. During the meeting, Valenzuela ratified the United States' commitment to working with Colombia to fight narcotrafficking. "The message of the United States Government is that it continues to be and will be committed to Colombia. We want to continue collaborating in the fight against narcotrafficking, since it is still not over; therefore we have to continue working in a joint way in the framework of co-responsibility." The Colombian Presidency's press release continued to note that Valenzuela proposed "the creation of a center for the prevention of terrorism with five central themes concentrating on nuclear terrorism, terrorism and narcotrafficking, terrorism and illegal groups, and the empowerment of victims on the subject of preventing terrorism."
Valenzuela's itinerary included speaking to over 300 students at the Universidad de los Andes about U.S.-Colombian relations (the video of the event is available here). Although not much press coverage of the event has emerged, El Tiempo reports that during the event Assistant Secretary Valenzuela said "'we cannot tolerate at these levels military threats between countries,' 'intervention,' or support to terrorist sectors." This was a response to a question about tensions between Colombia and Venezuela. Assistant Secretary Valenzuela also noted that the United States welcomes "'initiatives' that UNASUR suggests to help 'lower the temperature' between countries in the region."
This afternoon Assistant Secretary Valenzuela met with Colombian President Álvaro Uribe in Cartagena. El Tiempo reports that the two will talk about "trade relations between the two countries and some economic elements of a bilateral nature for the two governments."
Adam gives an overview of issues that may come up as the Obama administration's top diplomat for Latin America travels to the Andes on April 4-11, 2010. Featuring commentary from Lisa Haugaard, director of the Latin America Working Group.
The "Just the Facts" podcast is available here and on iTunes. Thank you for listening.
Cancun, Mexico is always regarded as a conference and summit hotspot, but this week it was overtaken by 32 representatives of Latin American and Caribbean countries - 24 of which were heads of state. The Rio Group Summit, the Latin American and Caribbean Summit on Integration and Development, and the Mexico-Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Summit were all held in Cancun over the past few days, and they all convened at the Latin American-Caribbean Unity Summit to discuss the creation of a new regional alliance, among other things.
Topics that were covered at the Summit included an aid strategy for reconstruction and development in Haiti, the current dispute between Argentina and Great Britain over the Falkland Islands, the creation of a new Latin American and Caribbean unity organization that would rival the Organization of American States, and more. Though not initially planned, other topics such as the spat between Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez were thrown into the mix, after the two presidents exchanged harsh words during lunch yesterday.
New Latin America-Caribbean Alliance
As the two-day summit came to a close yesterday, Mexican President Felipe Calderón announced that the 32 nations have agreed to create a new regional alliance that will "push for regional integration" and "promote the regional agenda in global meetings." This new alliance is intended to serve as an alternative to the Organization of American States with a slightly different membership - the United States and Canada will not be members, while Cuba will be.
According to the AFP, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela said that the United States does not see the new group as a problem, and that "This should not be an effort that would replace the OAS." And, during yesterday's State Department press briefing, Assistant Secretary Philip J. Crowley commented on the new alliance.
We think it's a good thing when countries in the region come together to talk about how they can cooperate more effectively, and this can take place in many regional fora. And virtually all of the countries attending the summit are strong partners of the United States and we are working together with them on a broad range of initiatives. So – and we consider the meeting in Mexico as consistent with our goals for the hemisphere.
Though this new alliance is being referred to as the Latin American and Caribbean Community, its name, status, and organizational structure will be decided on next year at a meeting in Caracas, Venezuela.
Argentina:
Over the past few weeks, tensions have sparked between Great Britain and Argentina over oil drilling rights in the waters surrounding the Falkland Islands (known as Las Malvinas in Argentina). The longstanding sovereignty dispute over the islands intensified earlier this month upon announcement that a British oil rig was arriving to drill offshore for oil.
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner says London has violated UN resolutions calling on the parties to take no actions that could aggravate their dispute and instituted a decree last week requiring vessels traveling through territorial waters to obtain permission from Buenos Aires. Britain has mostly dismissed the move as sabre-rattling, and the British oil company announced on Monday that it has begun drilling for oil in the territorial waters of the Falkland Islands.
The Unity Summit of 32 countries backed Argentina's claim that Britain is flouting international law by permitting drilling. According to the Associated Press: "Argentina presented a statement quoting Mexican President Felipe Calderón as saying that 'the heads of state represented here reaffirm their support for the legitimate rights of the republic of Argentina in the sovereignty dispute with Great Britain.'"
Colombia-Ecuador relations
Outside of the various summits, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa and Colombian President Álvaro Uribe held their first official meeting since the two countries cut diplomatic relations in March 2008 (after Colombia bombed a Farc encampment on Ecuadorian territory, resulting in the death of Farc leader Raul Reyes). Official from both countries have been working to restore diplomatic relations, but yesterday's meeting marks an important step forward in the process.
Prior to the meeting, both governments made statements saying that diplomatic relations would not be restored immediately, as each side still has concerns that need to be addressed. However the meeting between the two presidents demonstrated their will to move the process forward. "Without looking at the past to not repeat it, but looking toward the future and what is best for our countries, the political will to normalize relations between the two countries as soon as possible has been ratified," President Correa said.
As Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermúdez noted at a press conference yesterday, the next step toward normalizing relations is the implementation of a "commission of reasonable affairs that will cover topics of interest and the concerns of each side."
Colombia-Venezuela relations
The face-to-face encounter between President Uribe and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez was not as diplomatic as the meeting between Presidents Uribe and Correa. During lunch on Monday, the two presidents held a heated exchange, in which Uribe told Chávez to "be a man," while Chávez responded with "go to hell," according to variousmediaoutlets. The media was not in attendance at the lunch, but reports emerged detailing what was called a "shouting match" between the two presidents. As reported by the BBC, the exchange was as follows:
"Uribe: Be a man! These issues are meant to be discussed in these forums. You're brave speaking at a distance, but a coward when it comes to talking face to face.
Chavez: Go to hell!"
Cuban President Raúl Castro stepped in to stop the verbal spat, noting the irony of the fight at a "unity" summit: "'How is it possible that we're fighting at a summit intended to unite Latin American and Caribbean countries?,'" he asked.
Later in the day, both President Uribe and President Chávez agreed to an intervention by "friendly" countries to help resolve the diplomatic crisis that has emerged between the two countries. The commission formed to help the two countries includes Argentina, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Brazil.
Semana reported that President Chávez noted that "we have the capacity to not throw rocks at each other, because there are factors that alway play to this, to impede unity. It is an old history, the divide and conquer." President Uribe, on the other hand, asked his government's officials, especially Minister of Defense Gabriel Silva, to refrain from making any declarations about Venezuela without first consulting him.
Abigail and Adam discuss Colombia-Ecuador relations, arms sales to the FARC, the Haiti rebuilding cost, the Falklands dispute, press freedom, citizen security in Mexico, and upcoming congressional hearings.
July: News of a military deal between Colombia and the United States is made public. The deal will allow the U.S. access to seven Colombian military bases. At this point details of the agreement are not yet available to the public. The deal creates tension throughout Latin America, especially between Venezuela and Colombia. Like many other leaders in the region, Chávez was angered by not being consulted before the announcement of the deal. Moreover, the deal represents a threat to Venezuelan sovereignty and he fears a U.S. led invasion.
October 2 2009: Venezuela arrests three DAS agents charged with spying for Colombia. Colombian DAS Director Felipe Munoz says "We're waiting to see what this is about because officially there are no DAS officials in Venezuela carrying out any activities."
October 24 2009: The bodies of 11 young men are found, including nine undocumented Colombians, in the Western Venezuelan state of Táchira. The young men were kidnapped by a group of heavily armed men in pickup trucks while while playing soccer in a town four hours from the Colombian border. Venezuelan government and Colombian opposition believe that their deaths were the result of a clash between paramilitary groups from Colombia. Venezuelan opposition asserts that Chávez is only interested in rooting out the right-wing paramilitaries, and is actually aiding the guerrillas. In response to the violence, the Venezuelan government restricts trade and other economic activities with Colombia.
November 2 2009: Two Venezuelan National Guardsmen are murdered. Colombia expels a Venezuelan National Guardsman. In response Venezuela closes two international bridges between Colombia and Venezuela, as Venezuelan authorities search for the suspects, creating mass confusion for residents.
November 4 2009: Venezuela announces the deployment of 15,000 troops to the two countries' common (1,375-mile) border. President Chávez also shuts down several border crossings, and threatens to shut down more. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Maduro says that the violence along the border is part of a U.S. and Colombian plot to destabilize Venezuela.
November 9 2009: President Hugo Chávez' rhetoric becomes increasingly inflammatory. He announces on Venezuelan television, "Let's not waste a day on our main aim: to prepare for war and to heLp the people prepare for war, because it is everyone's responsibility." He also orders 15,000 troops to the border, citing increased violence by Colombian paramilitary groups. In response, President Uribe states, "Colombia has not made nor will it make any bellicose move toward the international community, even less so toward fellow Latin American nations." Colombia also responds with a letter to the U.N. Security Council, "explaining in detail concerns Colombia has about remarks by President Chávez and other sensitive matters."
November 19 2009: Venezuela blows up two pedestrian bridges on its border with Colombia. Venezuela argues that the bridges were being used by narcotraffickers and guerrillas. However, while the bridges were not major structures, they were important to the people that used them. See this video news report from Caracol showing interviews with local residents and the mayor of the town. Colombia's Defense Minister Gabriel Silva says Álvaro it will lodge a complaint with United Nations and the Organization of American States over the "aggression."
December 1 2009: Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez expels over 400 illegal Colombian and Brazilian miners, creating chaos in the small border town of Puerto Inirida, Colombia. According to the governor of Guainía, many of the miners arrived malnourished, having walked two or three days through the mountains, running from the Venezuelan Guards, and are staying with friends. Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva says "We're going to report this sort of forced displacement to international human rights authorities because it violates international humanitarian rights."
Most recently, Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernández has agreed to serve as mediator, after Colombian President Uribe asked him to do so in a private meeting during the Ibero-American Summit, which ended last week in Estoril, Portugal. President Fernandez stated that his country "because of its geographical and friendship with its neighbors, has on other occasions mediated in regional conflicts to see solutions to these differences."
