Published: Sunday, December 20, 2009
Bylined to: Eva Golinger
Chavez orders to shoot down US drones entering Venezuelan
territory
Eva Golinger: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez revealed
today on his Sunday television and radio program, Alo Presidente, that unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, have illegally entered
Venezuela's airspace during the past several days. "A few days ago, one of
these military planes penetrated Venezuela as far as Fort Mara," a
Venezuelan military fort in the State of Zulia, bordering Colombia. The drone
was seen by several Venezuelan soldiers who immediately reported the aerial
violation to their superiors.
President Chavez gave the order today to shoot down any drones
detected in Venezuelan territory. Chavez also directly implicated
Washington in this latest threat against regional stability by confirming that
the drones were of US origin.
On Thursday, President Chavez denounced military threats against
Venezuela originating from the Dutch islands Aruba and Curacao, situated less
than 50 miles off Venezuela's northwest coast. Both small islands host US air
force bases as a result of a 1999 contract between Washington and Holland
establishing US Forward Operating Locations (FOLs) in the Caribbean colonies.
Originally, the contract stipulated US military presence in Aruba and Curacao
solely for counternarcotics missions. However, since September 2001, Washington
uses all its military installations to combat perceived terrorist threats
around the world. The military bases in Aruba and Curazao have been used for
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions against Venezuela during
the past several years.
In 2006, Washington began conducting a series of high level
military exercises using Curacao as the principal zone of operations. Hundreds
of US aircraft carriers, warships, combat planes, Black Hawk helicopters,
nuclear submarines and thousands of US military troops have been engaging in
different military exercises and missions in the Caribbean region during the
past three and a half years, causing substantial alarm and concern to nations
in the region, particularly Venezuela, which has also been subject to hostile
and agressive diplomatic actions from Washington.
In 2008, the Pentagon reactivated the Navy's Fourth Fleet, charged
with defending US interests in the Latin American region. The Fourth Fleet was
deactivated in 1950, after accomplishing its original defense mission during
World War II. The fleet's reactivation nearly 60 years later was perceived by a
majority of nations in Latin America as a direct threat to regional sovereignty
and provoked South American countries to establish a Defense Council to deal
with external threats. The Pentagon responded by proudly admitting the Fourth
Fleet's reactivation was a "showing of US force and power in the
region" and a demonstration that the US "will defend its regional
allies." This was perceived as direct support to Colombia, and an attempt
to intimidate Venezuela.
On October 30, Colombia and the US signed a military cooperation
agreement authorizing US occupation of seven military bases in Colombian
territory and all other installations as required. The agreement is seen as the
largest US military expansion in Latin American history. Although the two
governments publicly justified the agreement as an increased effort to fight
drug trafficking and terrorism, official US Air Force documents revealed that
the US would conduct "full spectrum military operations" throughout
South America from the Colombian bases. The Air Force documents also justified
the disproportional military expansion as necessary to combat "the
constant threat … from anti-US governments in the region."
Since 2006, Washington has classified Venezuela as a nation
"not fully collaborating with the war against terror." In 2005,
Venezuela was labeled by the State Department as a nation "not cooperating
with counter-narcotics operations." Despite no substantive evidence to
prove such dangerous accusations, the US has utilized these classifications to
justify an increase in aggression towards the Venezuelan government. In 2008,
the Bush Administration attempted to place Venezuela on the list of State
Sponsors of terrorism. The initiative was unsuccessful primarily because
Venezuela is still a principal supplier of oil to the US. Should Washington
consider Venezuela a terrorist state, all relations would be cut off, including
oil supply.
Nevertheless, Washington still views Venezuela as a major threat
to US interests in the region. The US is particularly concerned about Latin
American nations engaging in commercial relations with countries such as China,
Russia and Iran, perceived as economic threats to US control and domination in
the region. Last week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a warning to
countries in Latin America that have recently forged relations with Iran, such
as Bolivia, Brazil, Nicaragua and Venezuela. "…I think that if people
want to flirt with Iran, they should take a look at what the consequences might
well be for them, and we hope that they will think twice…" Clinton
stated during remarks made regarding the US State Department's Latin American
policy.
The Colombian government announced yesterday that a new military
base will be built right near the border with Venezuela, with funding and
equipment from the United States. Colombia's Defense Minister Gabriel Silva
also announced the activation of two air battalions at other border areas near
Venezuela. The new military base, located in the Guajira peninsula, which
borders the Venezuelan State of Zulia, would have up to 1,000 troops and would
also allow the presence of US armed forces and private military contractors.
This announcement clearly ups the ante against Venezuela.
The MQ-1 Predator UAV, a type of combat drone, has been used over
the past year in Afghanistan and Pakistan to assassinate suspect terrorists.
The drones are equipped with Hellfire missiles and are capable of hitting
ground targets in sensitive areas.
Venezuela is on high alert in the face of this dangerous threat. Chavez
made the statements regarding the drone detection during the launching of the
new National Police Force, a recently created communal police force directed at
preventive security operations and community-based service.
Eva Golinger
http://www.chavezcode.com/2009/12/
us-military-aggression-against.html