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Caribbean-Latin America | ||||
Venezuela eyes U.S. military on Curacao | ||||
2005-02-28 | ||||
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela's navy is taking a close look at the American military presence on the nearby island of Curacao to determine the intention of U.S. operations there, Venezuela's navy commander said Monday. Navy Cmdr. Armando Laguna said the Venezuelan navy was "taking precautions" as it observes the presence of U.S. Marines, along with military planes and amphibious vehicles on the Caribbean island. He did not provide details regarding what measures the navy was taking.
There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy in Caracas.
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Posted by:Steve |
#21 jimmuh as a human shield? Two-fer! Launch the killer rabbits©! |
Posted by: Frank G 2005-02-28 11:36:28 PM |
#20 ...First, it's now Officially Obvious(TM) that Chavez now suffers from Noreiega's Disease, a little know affliction that renders the sufferer incapable of knowing exactly what he's screwing with. Second, a prediction: Jimmah will fly to Venezuela, denounce the coming invasion, and stand as a human shield with Hugo, figuring we won't DARE mess with him. Mike |
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2005-02-28 11:34:43 PM |
#19 "Chavez retains the support of a slight majority of Venezuelans" If Chavez really had the support of "slight majority", why did he need to obstruct and cheat on the referenda? Venezuela - Chavez Obstruction of the Presidential Recall Referendum Dr. Constantine Menges Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/4/6/102346.shtml The latest referendum has been dissected by reknown mathematicians and the likes showing evidence of fraud. Here is a great summary of all the studies: http://blogs.salon.com/0001330/categories/rrModels/ And has anyone here seen the latest photos of the fake crowds of the fake revolution? Littlegreenfootballs linked to it a few days ago: http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=14854 |
Posted by: TMH 2005-02-28 9:22:53 PM |
#18 Sorry my fellow hawks, but I do not think it wise to respond to Chavez's provocations in any way except isolation. As Liberalhawk pointed out, Chavez's posturing is for domestic consumption and while it might be good to puncture his puffery, I think he is more clever and dastardly than you might believe. His goal is to suppress internal opposition and consolidate power in the classic totalitarian style. He is distributing weapons to his supporters on the pretext of mobilizing defenses against American invasion. Our Armed Forces should be as far away as possible so that it is clear to all of S. America and the world how empty and false such pretexts are. The biggest problem is that, for now, Chavez retains the support of a slight majority of Venezualans - he's the first Commie to win an election. We cannot move against him and be true to our principles while he retains this support. We will have to be patient and wait for his support to erode, even if it takes years and lots of suffering. There is a large base of opposition - basically all of Venezuela's middle and upper classes - including some of my friends. No doubt many of them would welcome American armed intervention - they loathe Chavez. But they have made many mistakes until now, including when they were in power and in misplaying their cards since Chavez came to power. The failed coup was a colassal blunder. Now they have to pay the price but the first step to eroding Chavez's base is to start being smart - not desperate and foolhardy. |
Posted by: John in Tokyo 2005-02-28 8:30:46 PM |
#17 #13. They might not have to wait long for the American lefties. Jimmy Carter and the Carter Center are on the way back to Caracas "to help consolidate peace and democracy." Jimmah figured he didn't demoralize the Venezuelan's enough the last time he 'helped' democracy's cause there. |
Posted by: GK 2005-02-28 7:18:55 PM |
#16 I think it would be wonderful if the US found a way to quarantine a few Venezuelan oil tankers enroute to Cuba. Hold them a day and let them go. Send a powerful message that if we wanted to screw with them it would be very easy. Their entire economy depends upon US patrolled oceans. |
Posted by: RJ Schwarz 2005-02-28 7:15:19 PM |
#15 ...the Venezuelan navy was "taking precautions" as it observes the presence of U.S. Marines, along with military planes and amphibious vehicles on the Caribbean island. And? ![]() ![]() Greeting from our guys on Curacao for Hugo "The Magnificent" |
Posted by: BigEd 2005-02-28 6:30:04 PM |
#14 I'll wager the locals take care of this inside 8 years. |
Posted by: Shipman 2005-02-28 4:47:41 PM |
#13 Not to worry Hugo, your not in real trouble until John F. Kerry leads a congressional delegation to save you goverment. It's about the time that these LLL Yahoos leave that you start hearing the sound of JDAMS landing on your office. |
Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2005-02-28 4:02:18 PM |
#12 Crazyfool, I think the Venezuelans are going to have to stew a bit longer. |
Posted by: buwaya 2005-02-28 3:41:38 PM |
#11 I wonder how many of venezualiens (sp?) are, after seeing what is going on with the Iraqi elections, are quietly praying for an invasion...... "Oh please... Oh please... Oh please..." |
Posted by: CrazyFool 2005-02-28 3:27:17 PM |
#10 He is running out of Is there any sane democracy anywhere that has a multi hour TV show of the head of state ranting? |
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2005-02-28 3:13:29 PM |
#9 Hey, Kimmie sabre-rattled and got offers of free stuff from Clinton. His buddies in Iran sabre-rattled and got offers of free stuff from the Euroweenies. Why not give it a try? |
Posted by: Tom 2005-02-28 3:00:16 PM |
#8 tell em they are under attack and you can stay in office |
Posted by: juriseqs 2005-02-28 2:58:27 PM |
#7 Liberalhawk, precisely. Its Chavez sabre-rattling, maybe trying to get a rise out of the US. |
Posted by: buwaya 2005-02-28 2:56:04 PM |
#6 they are there to back up Coast guard drug ops, cruise ship antiterror efforts and oil refinery protection. |
Posted by: juriseqs 2005-02-28 2:38:20 PM |
#5 this is just propagamda from Chavez to get locals to rally round the flag. The US aint doing anything about him anytime soon. |
Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-02-28 2:30:15 PM |
#4 Love it. Rattling the guys with all the epaulets and medals, huh? Be sure to watch for subs and covert insertions... get those clips and ammo for the 100,000 AK's? No? Time to start jerking Hugo's chain in a big way and he'll overreact |
Posted by: Frank G 2005-02-28 2:29:54 PM |
#3 ...the Venezuelan navy was "taking precautions" as it observes the presence of U.S. Marines Yeah. Probably passing out the life jackets... |
Posted by: tu3031 2005-02-28 2:26:57 PM |
#2 Hopefully Chavez would not wake up at all. He would disappear in a fireball the moment anything started. |
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2005-02-28 2:26:47 PM |
#1 If the US were to take Venezuela down there would be no signs and portents in the days ahead. Chavez would learn about it when he heard the gunfire and shelling. |
Posted by: rjschwarz 2005-02-28 2:17:54 PM |