Posted on 08/10/2009 11:22:31 AM PDT by marron
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
The report on drug trafficking, issued by the office of investigations of the US Congress, made some of the Chavist officials in Caracas explode.
The report revealed that the trafficking and distrubution of drugs is aided by corruption in the government of ...Hugo Chavez and by the lack of cooperation with the anti-drug policies of the US.
According to the report, Caracas has created a "permissive atmosphere" for insurgent organizations like FARC, by whom the drugs produced in Colombia are brought to Venezuela and from there distributed to the world.
“According to US officials, this permissive atmosphere is made possible by the high level of corruption in the Venezuelan government, the army, and other entities who should apply the law and contribute to security”, affirmed the US Government Accountability Office (GAO). Colombia is the world's leading producer of cocaine, and its principal market is the US.
According to information published in IPS Noticias, the Colombian drug shipments to neighboring Venezuela rose from 60 tons in 2004 to 260 tons in 2007, a good part of which was headed for the US and Europe.
President Chavez of Venezuela responded to the report and said it was slander.
Nevertheless, rather than deny the accusations against him, he spoke of US hiporacy, considering the fact that the US is the main consumer of the drug.
Chávez expelled the DEA in 2005, after relations with the US were weakened in the wake of the coup d'etat supported by the US in 2002.
According to the World Drug Report 2009, from the UN Office against Drugs and Crime (ONUDD), confiscations of cocaine in Venezuela went from 58 tons in 2005 to less than 32 tons in 2007.
For his part, the Venezuelan chancellor issued a press release in which he denounced political blackmail in the publication of the report.
“This combined with other reports, published regularly by agencies of the US government, are tools for political blackmail that have no scientific objectivity or methodological seriousness”, according to the press release.
remember this whenever you buy CITGO gas...
ping
Maybe the NYSlimes should read this before publishing their BS...
There is no way a good friend of our president would be involved in any thing like this is there?
“President Chavez of Venezuela responded to the report and said it was slander.”
Well, technically, it’s libel, since it’s in writing. Of course, there’s the problem of the truth being a complete defense to defamation...
Colonel, USAFR
It there are two gas stations right across each other, one a CITGO who sells gas for $2.439 a gallon and the other one sells it for $2.489 a gallon. I go across the street
Thanks for the ping
I don’t do CITGO regardless of the price. I don’t knowingly support FARC, cocaine cartels or any other terrorists.
That is the reason I don’t go either
It’s a real shame that the CIA doesn’t actually perform the assasinations the left accuses them of. They could solve a lot of the world’s problems by getting rid of a few dictators.
Seems to me the authors of this report need to start checking their six. Zero will not be amused.
The bottom of the article goes on to say that the mysterious comings and goings of small Venezuelan aircraft have stopped since June 28.
quoting:
The country has a strategic position in the Caribbean, since the small planes must without choice make a stop in order to transport cocaine from South America to Mexico or the US.
Their capacity doesn’t permit these small planes to arrive directly, but rather they must be refueled in Honduras.
So far this year, at least 14 Venezuelan airplanes have arrived loaded with thousands of kilos of cocaine and with dollars.
EL HERALDO revealed a few weeks ago that curiously since last June 28 these planes have stopped crashing here [per another article, 14 is the number of planes found crashed or abandoned; they assume several times that number made the trip successfully-marron].
Chávez immediately reacted and said that it was an attempt to involve Manuel Zelaya in drug trafficking.
end quote.
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