Chavez sends troops to border with Colombia and closes embassy

For Dpa / elcaribecdn.com
Sunday March 2, 2008 updated at 3:13 PM


CARACAS .- The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, today ordered the transfer of troops to the border with Colombia and the closure of the Venezuelan embassy in Bogota, in response to the military operation that killed the second head of the FARC guerrillas on the border with Ecuador.

The agent said that he talked to his colleague from Ecuador, Rafael Correa, who also ordered the withdrawal of its ambassador to Colombia accuse of having violated its sovereignty in the military operation that gave low "Raul Reyes".

In a stern notice from his television and radio program "Hello President", Chavez said that the death of Reyes was a "cowardly assassination", while he called "criminal and mafia" its twin Colombian Alvaro Uribe, accusing him of trying to convert his country in the "Israel of Latin America", to copy the practices of the Israeli army when it invaded the Gaza Strip and the bombing.

He warned that if Uribe is trying to do on the border with Venezuela something similar to what happened in the limits with Ecuador immediately sent warplanes Sukoi, Russian-made.

Then ordered the Minister of Defense, General Gustavo Rangel, send "immediate" 10 battalions to the border with Colombia, as well as battalions to deploy tanks and warplanes.

"We do not want war but we are not going to allow the rule and the Colombian oligarchy that we come to divide," he said.

It also ordered the chancellor Nicolas Maduro to withdraw all staff from the embassy of Venezuela in Colombia, which the ambassador has not returned since Pavel Rondón two months ago, when Chavez froze relations.

"Uribe is a criminal, not just a liar, and runs a paramilitary narcogobierno, lackey of American imperialism, subordinate (U.S. President George W.) Bush does what he commanded to do. Is a criminal and directs a band of criminals in the Narino Palace, "he said.

Also, Chavez announced that he would not attend the meeting of the South American Union, scheduled to take place in Colombia, as a sign of protest against the government of Uribe.

Meanwhile, Reyes Chavez called a "great revolutionary" and recalled that met him in 1994 at a congress in Brazil Forum of Sao Paulo.

"It was a struggle (in which he died), was a cowardly assassination and the truths are emerging," he said and accused the press of the United States and Colombia had unleashed a "sabbath" to "celebrate" the death of leader Colombian revolutionary.

He said that the international television network CNN was a "banquet" to report on the death of Reyes, throwing on "outrages assassinated leader, because that is imperialism, accusing him of being a drug trafficker, to be head of a powerful network of drug traffickers crimes, including rape of young girls. "

"That (the death of Reyes) is not a blow against the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), is a blow against peace, against the humanitarian agreement and against UNASUR," said.


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