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A dialogue between two important members of the FARC (Colombian revolutionary Armed Forces), appears to be among the evidence submitted by the Colombian authorities to the Venezuelan Government according to Colombia’s Radio Caracol. Here is the translation of the only written report I have seen on the issue, which suggests that more than one hundred members of the FARC guerillas were in Caracas in early December for the II People’s Bolivarian Congress, financed and organized by the Chavez Government.. I had talked to two reporters who had mentioned this to me, but said they could not talk about it and...

"The Government had to choose between war and shame. They chose shame. They will get war too." -Churchill The grotesque Granda case would seem to be the cause of our problem with Venezuela in the same way that the war of independence would have been due to the insolence with which the chapeton refused to lend the flower vase to the party to honor Antonio Villavicencio. ... From the Ministry of Interior and Justice we warned that the key to our relationship with Chavez could be found in the Sao Paulo Forum, and in the communist conspiracy that was being...

Alek Boyd of VCrisis has a fascinating bit of breaking news up about President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia handing over to the Venezuelan government a list of FARC Marxist narcoterrorists. To those of us from afar, it might not look like anything earth-shattering. But it is. President Uribe is one of the most effective terror fighters in the world today, a man with Bush-like and Sharon-like resolve to stomp out some of the world's most savage organized killers. Like them, he's taking a huge risk by doing it. And he's winning big. Over the weekend, it came to light that...

Despite new evidence that Venezuela has become a sort of ''Club Med'' for Latin America's violent groups, the Bush administration is unlikely to start its second term taking major steps to isolate leftist-populist President Hugo Chávez. But, eventually, it will probably do so. Judging from what incoming Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the Senate earlier this week and what I have heard in interviews with well-placed current and former U.S. officials, the U.S. strategy will be to wait until Chávez does something really obnoxious in the eyes of the world, which he probably will.

London 14.01.05 | Hugo Chavez, the greatest pariah ever to govern our nation, has just frozen diplomatic and trade relations with Colombia. The embarrassing thing for us decent Venezuelans is the reason for this breakage, i.e. the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Rodrigo Granda, FARC leader, was captured in Caracas by bounty hunters, when he was attending, as guest of honour, a Bolivarian celebration organized by the government of Venezuela. The Chavez regime then incurred in a series of mishaps, distortions and outright lies to cover its cosy relationship with the terrorist, who happened to have been naturalized in...

Noe Pernia is a reporter for Channel 2 News in Caracas, known as "El Observador". Because of the muzzle Bill he was not able to report correctly the news on the Granda case. He writes this in today's Tal Cual: Jesse did not say the truth, neither did I By Noé Pernía I tried to construct a story, a simple story that would help TV viewers of El Observador understand the labyrinth of the Minister of The Interior and Justice since on Thursday the 6th., the day of the wise men, he replied to the lawyers of Rodrigo Granda in...

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and his followers allegedly "granted" US$ 100,000 to the Enocacerista Movement, according to an investigation conducted by the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio into the funding of the group managed by Antauro and Ollanta Humala. The newspaper pointed out that "the Peruvian Ministry of the Interior views as reliable the information that states that in 2001 Hugo Chávez had sent to Antaulo Humala Tasso, through a retired army officer, the amount of US$ 100,000 to consolidate the political party." According to intelligence sources, there were not additional deliveries because Humala "did not use properly" the money granted....

The Government continues tangling itself in lies in the case of the Foreign Minister of Colombian terrorist group FARC. We have gone from ignorance about the possibility that Mr. Granda was in Venezuela or kidnapped in Venezuela to accusations about bounty hunters kidnapping Granda in broad daylight. Of course, he makes no mention of the fact that Colombians may have perpetrated a kidnapping in Caracas in broad daylight and taken Granda all the way to the border without the Chavez Government doing anything about it. How efficient no? Even today, the Government continues to deny that it knew about Granda’s...

London 07.01.05 | Prensa Latina reports today that the lawyer of arrested FARC leader Ricardo Granda informed that Granda had both Colombian and Venezuelan citizenship. Lawyer Miguel Gonzalez expressed that his client is Colombian by birth and Venezuelan by adoption, whatever that means. Furthermore, Gonzalez is quoted saying that Granda did not need entry permits to Venezuela for he resides in that country. Granda's Venezuelan ID number was mentioned by his lawyer as 22.118.142.

London 07.01.05 | Prensa Latina reports today that the lawyer of arrested FARC leader Ricardo Granda informed that Granda had both Colombian and Venezuelan citizenship. Lawyer Miguel Gonzalez expressed that his client is Colombian by birth and Venezuelan by adoption, whatever that means. Furthermore, Gonzalez is quoted saying that Granda did not need entry permits to Venezuela for he resides in that country. Granda's Venezuelan ID number was mentioned by his lawyer as 22.118.142. On other news, member of Colombia's Congress Foreign Affairs Commission Jimmy Chamorro declared that the Granda's capture in Caracas is but another proof of the close...

London 05.01.05 | The answer is, he was a guest of honour of the Bolivarian encounter of intellectuals organized, hosted and sponsored by the administration of Hugo Chavez. That’s right folks; Hugo Chavez cuddles with and invites international terrorists at the taxpayer’s expense, although this is not the first time his criminal and clumsy actions are spoilt by respectable police forces. Just to refresh public memory:

This evening at maghrib prayers throughout Java calls went out for "volunteers" to go to Aceh to provide humanitarian services and "spiritual guidance" for those affected by the earthquake and tsunami. Volunteers from Solo, Kendal, Bogor, Cirebon, Majalengka, Pekalongan and Yogyakarta have answered the call and are being transported in chartered buses to Jakarta. At least 77 members of (JI) departed Tuesday (4/1/05) from Yogyakarta to Jakarta in two chartered buses. Islamic militancy groups are angry and claiming that Jakarta has refused to allow the charter of private aircraft from Jakarta into Banda Aceh at the request of the Americans...

Minister of Interior and Justice Jesse Chacon: We do not rule out that assassinated Prosecutor was part of an extortion ring. From hero to suspected criminal in less than two months -Minister of Agriculture, Arnoldo Marquez: The British owners of the large estate El Charcote have not been able to demonstrate they own the land. The documents are not guarantee that the land is private property, but that they belong to the Agrarian Institute or the Land Institute. There goes the VP’s promise to the British Government to respect their property. -General Oswaldo Bracho: The Bolivarian Liberation front which backs...

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) confirmed that Rodrigo Granda Escobar, known as "the Chancellor" was kidnapped in Venezuela, while attending the Second Bolivarian Peoples Conference. In a statement published on their web page, the Central Command of this organization blamed the kidnapping of "Ricardo", as he is known within FARC, on "the Colombian intelligence services" and blamed his deportation on "gringo advisors and the complicit support of corrupt elements of the Venezuelan police". In the statement they went on to ask that the government of Venezuela make "its position clear regarding guarantees to the other bolivarian organizations that...

London 03.01.05 | Undoubtedly internet is the true revolution, so much so that a bunch of assassins, otherwise known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), have their own website where they post communiqués and other stuff. During last December's meeting in Caracas of guerrilla fighters, leftist talebans and revolutionaries, Ricardo Granda a.k.a FARC's 'foreign secretary' was arrested by Colombian police forces and whisked to Colombia. FARC leaders weren't amused by the operation and have released a communiqué criticising comrade Hugo for lack of protective measures towards such honourable guests. These guerrilla fighters must truly enjoy to crack bad...

As American post-conflict combat deaths in Iraq overtook the wartime number, the administration counseled patience. "The war on terror is a test of our strength. It is a test of our perseverance, our patience, and our will," President Bush told an American Legion convention. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice embellished the message with what former White House speechwriters immediately recognize as a greatest-generation pander. "There is an understandable tendency to look back on America's experience in postwar Germany and see only the successes," she told the Veterans of Foreign Wars in San Antonio, Texas, on Aug. 25. "But as some...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A mosque raided by security forces in southern Baghdad contained a workshop to rig suicide car bombs, with seven vehicles ready for terror attacks, an Iraqi Defense Ministry official said Sunday. National Guard forces raided the Sunni Muslim Al-Yassen Mosque in the Baghdad area of Abu Dshir on Saturday, said Gen. Saleh Sarhan. In addition to the seven cars, guardsmen found 30 rocket-propelled grenades, high-powered rifles, mortars and remote control detonators, Sarhan said. He said the mosque leader and 18 other people were detained. Anti-U.S. guerrillas used about 60 mosques in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, to stockpile...

Posted on Sat, Apr. 17, 2004 Leader of a secret squad in World War II makes sure his men finally get their due BY ALLAN JOHNSON Chicago Tribune (KRT) - It was the summer of 1944. Chicago's John Giannaris and his detail of 22 men were staging sneak attacks and other covert operations against the Nazis in a rugged area of Greece. Meanwhile, German troops were burning out villages in the area, and "there was a lot of barbarism," Giannaris said. "I saw mass graves. It was terrible." When Giannaris got word the Nazis were again on the move against...

For the first time, soldiers from India and the United States have come together for a three-week long exercise in guerrilla warfare. It began on March 28 and will end on Friday, April 16. Involving a total of 120 personnel from both sides, it is the largest such exercise between the two countries. Photographs and reportage: Josy Joseph Soldiers no longer have the 'comfort' of their trenches to stare across at the enemy. Modern-day battles are fought with a faceless enemy in extremely treacherous terrain. Also Read:The New Terrorists http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/16spec.htm Also see: The Young Bravehearts http://specials.rediff.com/news/2004/jan/28speca.htm The Counter Insurgency and...

Sunni and Shia guerrillas unite against US By David Blair in Baghdad (Filed: 12/04/2004) Leaflets handed out on the streets of Baghdad yesterday suggested growing co-operation between Sunni and Shia guerrillas amid signs that Iraqis are beginning to unite against a common American foe. The handouts carried a "joint statement" by the Mahdi militia, loyal to the radical Shia cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, and the "Army of Fallujah", fighting US forces in the besieged Sunni city 30 miles west of Baghdad. They were distributed in the capital's al-Ala'am suburb and declared six districts of Baghdad a "military area". People living locally...