I don't know, hang on a sec...
Errrrrrrrrrr....
Nope, can't be done.
Posted on 03/02/2008 10:06:47 AM PST by jhpigott
Venezuela President Hugo Chavez ordered tank battalions to the Colombian border on Sunday after Colombian troops struck inside another of its neighbors, Ecuador, in an attack on rebels.
He also ordered the shutting of Venezuela's embassy in Colombia and the withdrawal of all diplomatic staff in the dispute, warning Colombia's actions could spark a war in South America. (Reuters)
ping
. . . . as if the board was not already lit up
Evil Tyrant 101: When things go to hell at home, start a war to distract the people.
He’s just pissed one of his FARC buddies Raul Reyes was dispatched today in Ecuador. Cahvez also is threatening war with Colombia if they go after FARC guys hiding in Venezuela. In the words of GWB, I hope Uribe says ‘bring it on’ to Hugo. The nut job is getting increasinly eratic and I think the military will overthrow him if he tries to use them to start a war with Colombia. The people of Venzuela grow weary by the day of the Coca chewing, caffeine addicted nutjob they have running their country. The end is near my dear Hugo, you are only helping to hasten that day forward with your actions.
That is what they said about castro for 49 years.
But he like hugo have the guns.
Keep yours close in case Mrs. Clintons gets power.
Thats about 350 - 400 tanks isn't it?
Well, this is a little different from what I was predicting awhile back. I thought it was only a matter of time before chavez starts trying to take over the three little nations to his east...french, dutch, and british guyana.
why this scumbag is still drawing air is beyond me.
In the last election when he wanted to change the laws to allow his to be Presidente for life, he would have rigged the vote and stole it if not for the Generals in the Army telling him they would not support him and send their troops into the street to put down the ensuing riots. That is the ONLY reason he conceded defeat.
The American people read left wing MSM and thus are denied the realities of what is going on in Venezuela. The opposition is uniting and the upcoming state elections may show the world that Hugo’s has lost the support of the masses which he claims to have.
Even with his vast petro dollars he is having to national milk production and farms to feed his people. Inflation is rampant, and his oil industry is being run into the ground by the cronies he appointed to run them.
Foreign oil companies will not invest in new projects because they know Hugo will not honor contracts. The EXXON case is a prime example of the idiocy of this man. The refineries EXXON built to refine Hugo’s HIGH SULPHUR HEAVY OIL are in the US. Hugo can’t sell his oil elsewhere even if he wanted because the refining capacity for his grade of oil does not exist, not to mention the cost of shipping it to someplace like CHINA. His days are numbered and I would give him less than 5 years, possibly much less if he tries to go to war with Colombia.
Not sure how many tanks make up one of their battalions, but by comparison, a US battalion has 44 tanks.
Regards,
Hmmm. Maybe not. Venezuela only has 86 Main Battle Tanks and about 150 Light Tanks.
Can’t we just assassinate this twerp and be done with it?
This has the potential of disrupting the flow of cocaine at market prices. The Democrats will DEMAND that President Bush intervene militarily.
The difference is that Venezuela had, and still has an educated class, and most of their military leaders were educated in the wetern political system. Many in fact were educated at private military scholls right in the US. The univesity system is still a hotbed of dissent to Chavez, and in fact it was probably the student movement that was most responsible for the loss of his referendum.
Not to discount the power of a tyrant, but the comparisoons to North Korea, Zimbabwe, and Cuba are not as relevant as one might imagine. The petro dollars are creating a new class of wealthy who owe their wealth to Chavez’s benevolence. The poor are just as resentful of a a rich Chavista as they were of the former ruling class elite. Conditions are deteriorating in the Caracas, basic foodstuffs are becoming more expensive and rare. If you can’t feed your supporters, they will cease to support you.
One more point, the military is not 100% behind Chavez, and even though he has tried to purge the upper ranks of those who dissent, he hasn’t been able to. The only reason he was able to take power was the military allowed him to, the only reason he can hold it is the same. If he tries to force the military into acting against Colombia, they will revolt and overthrow him. They will also look out for their economic interests ahead of Hugo’s delusional thoughts on Colombia.
Mark my words, and watch grasshopper.
Coup attempt did fail, because the US did not support it. The elections are rigged, but he LOST the last election, the one which have granted him the right to become the Fidel of Venezuela. The army told him if he did not respect the vote and rigged the results, they would keep their troops in their barracks when the students rioted. That is the ONLY reason Chavez did not steal that election.
The student and opposition movement were fractured before and are now unting under a common anti-Hugo banner. Venezuela is not Cuba or NOrth Korea, or Iran. The people are religous, but not Muslim, which seperates them from all three of the above. They have recent experience in democracy, unlike the three above. They have a vibrant student movement, unlike the above three. They have seen in their lifetimes, the standard of living decline from relative prosperity to basic food shortages. They have a dictatopr who is an admitted coca user. He will be deposed within five years, with or without our help. Even his allies in SA are distancing themselves from him.
I did not say there would not be blood, I said he would be deposed. Of course Hugo will not go without a fight, but his military support is crumbling. No general wants to lead his troops into battle on the orders of a coca chewing madman. The military controls a large part of the wealth pouring into Venezuela in the form of petro dollars, and they ain’t going to want to risk the golden goose for Hugo.
as if the board was not already lit up
~~~
Got Dat Rite,,,
Ides of March I guess...;0)
I have an Air ORBAT HERE...
It jives with what Jason posted, so use his as the raw data.
I'm still hunting up their ground ORBAT data, but if we assume the old Soviet "Great Red Horde" model, a tank battalion would be 31 AFV's. The only way their inventory could field ten battalions, is if they counted APC's as tanks...
I don't know, hang on a sec...
Errrrrrrrrrr....
Nope, can't be done.
Pssst. Hey Chavez. It was Tatalia.
Doesn’t really appear that the terrain (at least on google maps) is really “tank” country anyway...maybe wheeled APC’s, but not MBT’s.
Regards,
Agreed. Most likely a show-of-force demo on the border. Open season for overhead IMINT to get a good look at the formations.
Let’s do this!!!!!!
The only reason they're not there now is that the US would like to see Hugo do something really stupid.
“Venezuela only has 86 Main Battle Tanks and about 150 Light Tanks”
I’d say about three Warthogs should do it.
Thanks for the tip off Old Sarge
without spares the F16s are useless. and sourcing those
is problematic for El Jefe.
Don’t know if this is up-to-the minute accurate, but this listing says that Venezuela has only 10 F-16s and 14 SU-30s currently in operation (anyway, whatever they have, it wouldn’t last too long if we really wanted to do something about it):
Combat aircraft (Venezuela)
18 Canadair CF-5 Freedom Fighter
18 North American OV-10 Bronco
12 Dassault Mirage 50, (to be retired)
21 Lockheed F-16 Fighting Falcon, (10 of them operational)
24 Sukhoi Su-30MKV Flanker-C (similar with MK2 variant) - 14 commissioned (the remaining 10 are scheduled to arrive in 2008)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_Air_Force
Exactly right, and who if anyone with a national forum to be elected President will even begin to mention anything about this? It’s all about winning and that is all! The communists are not done trying to undermine us.
Guerilla war, bandits, okay. Actual armies? Not likely to get far.
When will hollywood do a benefit for the Cocaine Cartels?
They can do a song and sell it and give all the proceeds to the starving Coke dealers and growers...
We have to help...the little people!
I’m waiting for “advice” from a lot of know-it-alls in congress and the entertainment world. But most likely, they won’t say something until President Bush acts. And then, no matter what he does, they will be against it or say he should have done something else. But until he acts, they will be silent because they have nothing intelligent to offer.
I am actually working on a song for them. You can be guaranteed it will have the refrain “Bush Sucks” in it and the chorus will say “Haliburton” liltingly!
As soon as its done, I will send it along.
LOL - will be looking forward to it.
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