Alvaro Uribe is full of hot air and seeking scapegoats in Venezuela or Brazil

www.vheadline.com Posted: Monday, March 17, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Veteran political analyst and historian, Domingo Alberto Rangel writes that despite mobilizing money, arms and troops on a level never seen before, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has little to show for his 7 months in power.

While Rangel accepts the argument that Uribe hasn’t had much time, he's careful to note that Uribe has failed to come up with anything tangible, and instead has reverted to looking for scapegoats in Venezuela and Brazil.

Uribe claims that Colombian guerrillas harassed by the Colombian army have sought refuge across the border. “It’s logical that a Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) or National Liberation Army of Colombia (ELN) combatants from Arauca should seek refuge in neighboring Apure State, or one in Vaupes would cross over into Brazil ... but what about the Choco guerrilla fighters on the border with Panama or Putumayo next to Ecuador? They aren’t going to walk across Colombia into Venezuela or Brazil.”

Rangel contends Colombian guerrillas have been in and out of Venezuela since the times of Perez Jimenez (1953-1958). The Venezuelan army is sedentary … "the military will only leave garrisons if it feels the whip or is struck a bolt of lightning … we have a sedentary army and a well-trained and implanted guerrilla force … it’s like trying to swat a fly with a knitting needle. “

The presence of guerrillas in Venezuela or in Brazil "for a couple of hours," Rangel contends, is not the problem ... “if Uribe was finishing off the guerrillas, as he claims, a few here or in Brazil would be of little consequence … guerrilla columns are important because they have not suffered any serious setback."