Venezuela Responds to Colombia's Allegations of Collussion with the Guerrillas
This is the transcript of Venezuelan ambassador to OAS Roy Chaderton's response to Colombia's detailed, extensively documented allegations of Venezuelan collusion with Colombian narco-guerrilla rebel groups:
Nyaaaaaaaaaaa nyaaaaaaaa I'm-not-listening-to-you-nyaaaaaaaanyaaaa nyaaaaa not listening not listening nyaaaaaaaaa nyaaaaaaaaaaa not listening not listening nyaaaaaaaa I'm-not-listening not listening not listening nyaaaaaaaa nyaaaa-not-listening-not-listening nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa I'm-not-listening-to-you-nyaaaaaaaa not listening not listening nyaaaaa nyaaaaaaa nyaaaaaaaa nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa nyaaaaaaaaaaa nyaaaaaaaa I'm-not-listening-to-you-nyaaaaaaaa nyaaaa-not-listening-not-listening-nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaI'm-not-listening-to-you-nyaaaaaaaanyaaaa nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa not listening not listening nyaaaaaaaaaaa nyaaaaaaaa I'm-not-listening-to-you-nyaaaaaaaanyaaaa-not-listening-not-listening-nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa I'm-not-listening-to-you-nyaaaaaaaa nyaaaa nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa not listening not listening nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa nyaaaaaaaaaaa nyaaaaaaaa I'm-not-listening-to-you nyaaaaaaaa nyaaaa-not-listening-not-listening-nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa I'm-not-listening-to-you- nyaaaaaaaa nyaaaa nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Pixar
loroferoz
Francisco Toro
Exactly
That pretty much sums it up.
What a jerk!
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
Now his boss is attacking everyone he can think of & has severed relations with Colombia.
Wow!
Just, wow. I managed to catch the last few minutes of Chaderton fumbling & bumbling his way through to the end. Talking about eating chiguire and pork really tells one something!
el capricho de un gobernante que no sabe controlar sus emociones
The world has gone well and truly batshit insane when "el capricho de un gobernante que no sabe controlar sus emociones" is a line CHAVISTAS ARE USING TO ATTACK THEIR CRITICS!!!
Diego Maradona is a world class jerk
Well, here we go again...
There are so many relevant things I could say, but I would rather wait for the dust to settle. The one thing that is stuck in my mind, regardless of how irrelevant, is the image of Diego Maradona standing by Chavez's side while he announced that he breaking off relations with Colombia.
Considering that Chavez knew the schedule of the OAS meeting, Maradona's presence could only have been planned and orchestrated (with or without his knowledge). And even if it were without his knowledge, the appropriate thing to do would have been excuse himself and leave the stage.
Was Roy drunk or high?
I only watched a few minutes of Roy Maria Chaderton's intervention, but it gave me the distinct feeling that he was either drunk or high. And I'm not even talking about the incoherent "sentences" coming out of his mouth. I mean his mannerisms, his apparent incapacity to keep his neck straight, the way he spoke, and stuff like that seemed typical of someone whose brain is suffering from some form of chemical interference.
Colombia Should Be Pleased
...With Chaderton's performance.
Chaderton and his government came across as a bunch of duplicitous, colluding, loud-mouthed street louts caught with their hands in the cookie jar - which is what they are. It's nice to see the spiders scurrying out from underneath their rock in front of the whole world... (Sorry I'm mixing metaphors here, but I think I make my point.)
Anyone remember that scene in Last King of Scotland
when Idi Amin has just been attacked by rebels and he's looking around at his men in a paranoid frenzy? "Enemies! Enemies everywhere!" That's the feeling I get every time I read something out of Miraflores. The paranoia this government oozes is palpable, worse when they're actually confronted with evidence of their own misdeeds. They'll come crashing down under the weight of their own egos soon enough.
BTW, Colombia Should Follow Through On Its Threat
...to submit photos, maps, witnesses, and any other material to make their point conclusively about the FARC in Venezuela.
Especially damaging would be any evidence demonstrating collaboration/support between the GOV and the FARC.
Colombia's gotten a forum at the OEA, thanks to the (ex) Ecuadorian Ambassador to the OEA, and they should capitalize on this opportunity to the max, to crush Chavez and his lying weasels in front of the other countries, the press, and of course, Venezuela itself...
Roy Chaderton's Performance
How else COULD he spin it? For a trained diplomat (which he is), he was facing his worst nightmare, defending the indefensible. Is it any surprise he looked conflicted and tortured?
A sharp, well balanced tool, at the disposal of a buffalo
That's what Chaderton is. The buffalo is Chavez. I wonder why he continues to be that.
He is a very competent diplomat and was a very competent foreign minister (out of the league of Maduro, that's for certain), and his successes in public relations for Venezuela, and in depicting the opposition as coupsters have been instrumental in producing a large fund of sympathy for the Revolution abroad and in giving it breathing space with it's human rights abuses.
But you would need to turn black to white like they said Squealer did in Animal Farm to get through this.
Also, the timing of the Colombian government could not be better. A change in government in Colombia, so Uribe takes the heat, elections coming in Venezuela, a costly and dangerous "collaboration" almost nobody supports in either Venezuela or Colombia, because they see the FARC as just organized crime.
Skunk at the Garden Party
I wholly agree that Chaderton's performance today was embarrasing. However, I am afriad that I will play the skunk at the garden party here. I have seen clips of several videos from the presentation (mostly from Noticias 24) by the colombian ambassador and did not find them all that compelling. A jungle is a jungle is a jungle. A beach is a beach is a beach. Anyone who wants to play the devil's adversary could punch lots of hole in the presentation. I do not mean to say that the Colombians ochestrated a falsity, but rather that they did a poor job of making their case. This stuff was a bit like Secretary of State Powell making the case at the NU of Irak's weapons of mass destruction--weak!
It's not supposed to be a court
Evidence gathered by intelligence is like that: it's not supposed to be bullet-proof, but rather weighty enough to prompt a government to take political action. Without having heard the Colombian Ambassador, the question the Venezuelan government has not responded is: why would Colombia make this stuff up?
I disagree the case was weak
You have to look at that evidence in the context of the tools available to anyone to confirm it. Anyone can confirm using Google Earth that the terrain shown in the photos is a match to the location given. Plus, Governments have access to satellite images that can confirm the existence of the structures shown.
Also, the data presented was simply an overview. Colombia is making all the raw data available for analysis. If Venezuela was innocent, all they would have to do would be to accept Colombia's challenge and allow a Commission with reporters to visit all the sites in question. If Venezuela is correct and this is all manufactured, Colombia's reputation would be utterly destroyed and it would take decades to recover. So, if Venezuela is innocent, why not invite everyone to see?
No, Venezuela's reaction has, in fact, proved Colombia's assertions, as if the evidence weren't enough.
The image
The image of Chavez announcing the historic step of breaking relations with Colombia with Diego Maradona at his side is disturbing beyond words.
Quick question...
Could anyone please explain to this little indian how countries break relations with neighbouring countries?
The fifth break with Colombia, every single one of them due to FARC. As Hoyos said, instead of breaking with the FARC Chavez broke with Colombia. I guess no international commission will be taking walks in Sierra de Perija...
What's gonna happen?
What's gonna happen now that we broke relations with Colombia? I mean what's gonna change? we have almost no commerce with Colombia as it is. Would chavez close the border??? I am kind of worried because I live in Tachira,,,
Closing the border
As of this writing, the Aduanera has received no instructions. Commerce is continuing... for now.
This report from a family member who is in contact with the agencies involved.
First break
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is the first time Venezuela has completely broken off relations with Colombia. Before it was simply "freezing", "reduction" or other terms that really don't exist in international diplomacy.
relations
Last year in August Chavez broke relations with Colombia in as much as he did today. The wording was similar, a few days later it was reversed.
Chavez's Command of Diplomatic Nuance
I have seen Chavez misuse diplomatic terminology any number of times. Remember when he recently referred to the U.S. as an "enemy"? I think you are right and we are going to have to see what they say over the next couple of days.
Miguel, I think he
"paralyzed" and "froze" relations, he may probably have put a patatú to them, but he did not break them until now, as far as I remember. But then I don't have the pleasure to listen to him en cadena.
The true sociopathic response
I have seen it time and again in clinical settings. When confronted with evidence of mischief that you cannot deny, simply turn it around as rapidly as possible and blame your accuser with everything you have. Since there is no conscience there holding you back you can make it sound absolutely convincing and all those emotions of victimhood seem completely real. The secret, of course, is to do it as quickly as possible, and that Chavez has done, being a past master of the art. HE's the first one to cut off relations...Colombia must tread carefully here. Don't back down, of course, but don't overreact. Remember you're dealing with someone here who is basically unhinged from normal human responses. Be firm with where you want this to go, but use care. I think Santos and Uribe are up to it.
PS What is that ugly coke-sniffing midget Maradona doing hanging around this scene? He has no business there at all. Maybe he is Chavez's familiar, like a monkey on his shoulder. I thought I'd seen the last of his face when his team were deservedly booted out of the World Cup a few weeks ago. This thing has absolutely nothing to do with him. Take a red card, you little creep!
Santos
Santos says he wants to reestablish relation, so it looks like Uribe is going this alone.
Naaah...the Colombians did a shoddy job
Roy et al.
I am not defending the response from the Venezuelan government. It was childish.
My point is that after several days of the Colombian government announcing that they would present strong evidence of the FARC presence in Venezuela, their case was shoddy. This in fact gives the Chavista government ammunition such as their claim that Colombia just put forward "false positives." If of evidence we speak, then I think the Spanish journalist group that was highlighted in this blog a few weeks ago did a much better job. They actually had the Venezuelan Army openly stating that there are Colombian guerrilla camps on Venezuelan territory. I expected better of the Colombians. They could have given the Chavista government a KO!
Different audiences
If the audience was the general public, I would agree with you. In this case, the audience is the military and intelligence services of the the various member countries, who will report to their governments on the accuracy of the information.
I DO get what you are saying, that they could have produced a better show. But then Chaderton's criticism of it as a "show" would have been valid.
Evidence for what?
Pelao: My point is that after several days of the Colombian government announcing that they would present strong evidence of the FARC presence in Venezuela, their case was shoddy.
Notice the different levels of evidence: (1) the kind of evidence you need to condemn someone. (2) the kind of evidence you need to warrant further criminal investigations.
Colombia was aiming for (2), not (1).
If I come to the police saying my neighbor beat me up, but I have nothing to show but my word, then I have no evidence. If I go to the police with a black eye, a dozen witnesses and a video of my neighbor attacking me, then I have enough evidence to convict him. If I go to the police with a black eye, a torn shirt and cuts all over my body, that might not be enough to convict my neighbor, but sure as hell is enough to get someone off his butt to find out what happened.
And, incidentally, where did Chavez get the idea that breaking relationships with your accuser exempts you of paying for the crime? Can I do the same? Can I go to the next Chavezian kool-aid meeting, shoot a dozen redshirts, and when they catch me, can I argue, "hey, how dare you accuse me of anything! I'm breaking relationships with you", and then just walk away like nothing happened?
I was also struck by Chaderton's assertion that...
Colombia needs to control it's borders...
Just imagine Chavez's reaction if Colombia put the military resources on the border that would be needed to do that.