Chávez trying his hardest to be relevant
by Guillermo Martinez
Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez speaks so frequently and for so long that many people simply dismiss him as a charlatan. Seldom does he observe the niceties of diplomatic discourse, and it is not uncommon for him to hurl insults at presidents who disagree with him publicly.
Recently, however, Colombia's FARC, the oldest leftist guerrilla movement on the continent, has turned Chávez into a peacemaker, or at least a conduit for the release of prisoners who have been held captive for years. In January, he was instrumental in obtaining the release of former Colombian vice presidential candidate Clara Rojas, and congresswoman Consuelo González.
Earlier this week, the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) announced that as a further gesture of good will toward Chávez, they will release another three former Colombian legislators — Luis Eladio Pérez, Gloria Polanco de Losada and Orlando Beltrán Cuellar. All were kidnapped in 2001 and are reportedly in poor health.
After the first release, Chávez demanded that Colombia and governments worldwide stop calling the FARC a terrorist organization. He said they should be recognized as a belligerent force.
The outcry in Colombia, Europe and throughout Latin America was enormous. What else can one call a force that kidnaps and holds hundreds of civilians in primitive jungle prisons for years? What else do you call a group that makes money by imposing terror and guarding the crops of drug lords in Colombia?
Chávez denounced Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe as a lackey of U.S. imperialism. He said the United States was preparing to invade Venezuela and proposed to create a unified military force against the expected U.S. aggression. He urged Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua to join in a military pact. But his call to arms fell on deaf ears. His allies in Central and South America — Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua — are among the poorest nations in the hemisphere. Ecuador and Nicaragua ruled themselves out of the alliance. Bolivia has not replied. Chávez failed in his attempt to become a bully.
Once again, Chávez changed his message. He said he is ready to receive the new prisoners to be released by the FARC and urged them to stop kidnapping innocent civilians and to show they are interested in bringing to an end the war they have been waging for more than 40 years.
Granted, Chávez wants to be — in fact, needs to be — considered an important cog in bringing peace, or at least in obtaining the release of FARC prisoners.
Chávez needs a foreign distraction. Venezuelans are enduring the highest rate of inflation in the Western Hemisphere. There is a shortage of basic food staples. Chávez cannot afford to have Venezuelans, who recently rejected a referendum that would have allowed him to rule indefinitely to continue thinking of all things that are wrong in the country.
That is why he is trying to make himself indispensable to the peace process in Colombia. He would love to have President Uribe appoint him again as chief negotiator with the FARC. He wants to show the world — Colombians and, most of all, Venezuelans — that he is truly important.
Throughout the process, Uribe has remained calm. Colombia's Congress — including those opposed to Uribe — rejected the insults uttered by Chávez. Uribe refuses to be drawn into the mud-slinging contest. When the FARC announces it is willing to release more prisoners, Uribe simply allows the arrangements to be made so the hostages can be picked up.
The process has strengthened Uribe's hand. Earlier this week, Colombians around the world marched, demanding that the FARC put an end to the violence. The millions who walked in dozens of Colombian cities, in Latin America, Europe and the United States, minced no words. They want the FARC to end its terrorist tactics.
Uribe now has the moral authority to permit the unconditional release of prisoners by the FARC without giving up anything in return. If the FARC leaders want to initiate anew the process of exchanging the hostages they hold captive for FARC members in Colombian jails, they will have to accept Uribe's conditions. Chávez will no longer have a say in those negotiations.
Source: South Florida Sun Sentinel
Share on Facebook
|
