Chavez orders troops to Colombian border (10 battalions, WAR?)

KRIS ^

[MeanGreen2008]

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is sending 10 battalions of troops to country's border with Colombia.

He's also ordered the Venezuelan embassy in Bogota closed and say all embassy personnel will be withdrawn from Colombia.

The announcements by Venezuela's leftist leader pushed relations with its neighbor to their tensest point of his 9-year presidency.

Chavez is also warning that Colombia could spark a war in South America, calling its U.S.-allied government "a terrorist state" and labeling President Alvaro Uribe (oo-REE'-bay) "a criminal."

[texanyankee]

"And remember when Pat Robertson was chastised for his opinion on Hugo?"

Please refresh my memory. I recall a lot of uproar about what he said - something about assassination? sounds good to me if that was what was said.

[JoeDetweiler]

Interesting article from a month ago:

“It is clear that neither Venezuela nor Colombia will make the first move or fire the first bullet. But this is where FARC comes into play......

......the possible orchestration of a firefight between the two countries could be sparked with a muzzle flare from a FARC soldier’s rifle.”

“One Colombian soldier is worth three Venezuelan soldiers if it comes to that, but in terms of hardware on paper, Venezuela has the upper hand,” Webb-Vidal said.

And the Colombians know that. Their strength is man-to-man combat and they could weather well a long battle. It is in Chavez’s interests to have a quick strike and as short a conflict as possible, one he desperately needs to present as a defensive move, and one he must present as a win.

The longer the engagement were to last, the bigger the disadvantage for the Venezuelans, especially because Chavez needs to feed the troops.”

http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=18631

[Arkinsaw]

All those South Americans who have been content to laugh with Hugo and prod him on because they like to poke a stick in the US eye can shudder and gulp now as Hugo moves battalions to the Polish...I mean Columbian...border.

The question is, should we help out some of those folks when they start begging for protection from the nutbag or do they have to lie in the bed they made?

Since I admire the Colombians I guess we should probably help them in spite of the sticks in the eye from their neighbors.

[Dog Gone]

Chavez is also warning that Colombia could spark a war in South America, calling its U.S.-allied government "a terrorist state" and labeling President Alvaro Uribe (oo-REE'-bay) "a criminal."

I could see Columbia calling Chavez and his country that, but this one has caught me off guard.

[rockinqsranch]

Just a thought: Seems I recall a bond between Iranian President Ahm-a-nut-job and Chavez. Is this action of Chavez an attempt to divide our military attentions, and lessen our presence in the Middle East in light of impending defensive actions of our Middle Eastern ally Israel?

[maquiladora]

For just a moment, imagine 10 battalions of the mexican military sent to our border. How would that strike you?

For a start we don't even know that they have 10 tank battalions. We do know they have about 80 Main Battle Tanks and about 150 Light Tanks which put together couldn't make up 10 tank battalions. And at the moment Chavez has only said on his TV show to the domestic audience that he was sending tanks to the border, there hasn't been any reports which have shown any actually military movement taking place. We've just got to remember that Chavez is a loudmouthed bully that likes making outlandish remarks.

[Arkinsaw]

It is in Chavez’s interests to have a quick strike and as short a conflict as possible, one he desperately needs to present as a defensive move, and one he must present as a win.

That would be easier if he were just trying a quick strike as Colombia and their ground troops. But that is unlikely since I suspect it will be hard to make quick work of Colombian ground troops with 200 or 300 US aircraft zipping around bombing the living crap out of your "battalions" while they work.

If Hugo thinks he is gonna conquer Colombia without a US intervention then he really is nuts.

[Ramius]

Moving tanks & troops to the border doesn’t mean they are ever going to cross the border. It’s probably just a lot of bluster.

Maybe. Maybe not. That's the whole question, then, isn't it?

What would an insane megalomaniac do with such troops in such a place? It's impossible to say. Problem is, you can't predict what someone will do who has lost control of his senses.

[Arkinsaw]

For a start we don't even know that they have 10 tank battalions. We do know they have about 80 Main Battle Tanks and about 150 Light Tanks which put together couldn't make up 10 tank battalions. And at the moment Chavez has only said on his TV show to the domestic audience that he was sending tanks to the border, there hasn't been any reports which have shown any actually military movement taking place. We've just got to remember that Chavez is a loudmouthed bully that likes making outlandish remarks.

The A-10's of the Arkansas National Guard alone can reduce his 230 tanks to about 10 in a day or two at worst. He is not crossing that border unless he really is insane. Because I can guarantee you we will intervene in Colombia's favor no matter how distracted we are elsewhere or how many other wars we have going on.

[processing please hold]

I said 10 battalions. Period.

[Ramius]

For just a moment, imagine 10 battalions of the mexican military sent to our border. How would that strike you?

A waste of otherwise fine soldiers? C'mon... Chavez may be crazy, but he's not ~stupid~. :-)

[Popman]

It’s probably just a lot of bluster

Probably, Columbia outspends Venezuela about 2 to 1 in military % of GDP.

So it's highly likely monkey boy will get his ass kicked

[processing please hold]

Is there still a problem with FR?

I had to open on 'my comments' to see my response to you posted.

Refreshing the page didn't help.

[M203M4]

[SeeRushToldU_So]

I am thinking this a good time to put a cruise up his @ss.

Go Hugo!! We will give you some left over virgins.

I hope we have the chance to put a cap in his @ss

[bioqubit]

left out of this discussion is the curious timing. Chavez’s move comes within what? one or two weeks of the official stepping down of Fidel? Just something to consider.

[processing please hold]

left out of this discussion is the curious timing. Chavez’s move comes within what? one or two weeks of the official stepping down of Fidel? Just something to consider.

Yes. Thanks for the reminder.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

ping for future.

Hugo's just an egotistic posturer. This probably is not the first step toward an invasion. If there is war, however, that would stink. There are only so many little wars the United States can take without losing the ability to wage a large war (i.e. against China and Russia, for instance). On the upside, a new war probably would help the Republican nominee, especially if the nominee is McCain.

[maquiladora]

I said 10 battalions. Period.

True. But it's what Chavez said that counts:

""Mr Defence Minister, move me 10 battalions to the frontier with Colombia immediately, tank battalions," Chavez said on his weekly TV show.

- http://stmarys.yourguide.com.au/news/world/general/chavez-sends-tanks-to-colombia-border/1194373.html

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Latin America pinglist ping.