Chavez finds a new enemy...the Dutch

[BlackPirate]

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/5017

Chavez accuses the Dutch of planning a future invasion in Venezuela's soil.According to him US and Dutch governments have installed military equipment in the islands of curacao and Aruba waiting fot the perfect moment to attack.My question is:who is the next one who mr Chavez wil accuse for planning an invasion in his country?

[Thorn777]

That sounds like Chavez alright, and I guess hes just upset he doesn't get Aruba and Curacao with all its refining capacity for free.

[Panzerbear]

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/5017

Chavez accuses the Dutch of planning a future invasion in Venezuela's soil.According to him US and Dutch governments have installed military equipment in the islands of curacao and Aruba waiting fot the perfect moment to attack.My question is:who is the next one who mr Chavez wil accuse for planning an invasion in his country?

to say "Chavez" and "idiot" in the same sentence would simply be redundant.

I actually have been to Aruba three weeks ago and NOTHING can be further from truth. I haven't even seen anything beyond small patrol boats and few lazy guards at the airport.

[Panzerbear]

did you guys hear the latest news? apparently Colombia and Venezuela now are preparing for war. both countries pull militaries to their borders.

[Prince of Yunderup]

did you guys hear the latest news? apparently Colombia and Venezuela now are preparing for war. both countries pull militaries to their borders.

Is this anything to do with the bridge episode a few weeks back? I guess there are a few underlying factors I think there has been tension for some time.

[Jagdpanzer]

Is this anything to do with the bridge episode a few weeks back? I guess there are a few underlying factors I think there has been tension for some time.

No, the contract for the American bases on the Dutch Antilles has to be renewed next year and Chavez is trying to put pressure on The Netherlands to cancel that contract. He feels boxed in by American bases in Colombia and on The Dutch Antilles. The Americans have a few planes on the islands for their anti-drugs programm and American warships regularly visit Curacao. That's it.

Some background reading:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Curacao to offer counterweight to Venezuela

Published: 10 November 2008 16:12 | Changed: 10 November 2008 16:19

The strained relationship between the US and Venezuela means that both countries are fighting for the hearts and minds of the people of nearby Curacao, which is part of the Dutch Antilles.
By Miriam Sluis

The US commandant of the airbase on the Caribbean island of Curacao cannot repress a sigh. “Since Venezuela decided 18 months ago not to work on our anti-drugs programme, we’ve seen drug smuggling increase enormously,” says lieutenant colonel Otto Habedank.

The base which he commands was set up in 2001 as a so-called Forward Operating Location (FOL) and can only be used to fight drug smuggling as specified in an agreement between the Netherlands and the Antilles, which are a part of the Dutch kingdom.

But it is not the only military presence on the island. American naval ships are regular visitors to Curacao. Just last month, the USS Kearsarge was moored at the island’s capital Willemstad for five days.

Humanitarian programme

The warship is currently being used for the US’ recently reactivated humanitarian programme Continuing Promise 2008 which focuses on the Caribbean and Latin America.

The southern part of the Caribbean - including Curacao, which lies 65 kilometres from Venezuela - can count on growing interest from world powers. The open vendetta between US president George Bush and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez has only served to make this bigger over the last few years.

Chavez recently announced that he is planning to build a large-scale marine base on the Venezuelan holiday island of Isla Margarita. And today marks the start of a week-long military exercise by Venezuela and Russia which has supplied the Latin American country billions of euros-worth of weapons.

“We’re not worried,” says Joe ‘Myers’ Vasquez, spokesman for the US humanitarian fleet. “The Russians are there at the invitation of Venezuela. We are going for a passive approach.”

Military interests

But more than the strategic military interests, the battle in the Caribbean seems to be about winning the hearts and minds of the local people. Chavez has won the loyalty of the poor in the region with free medical care and cheap oil, while the US focuses on humanitarian campaigns and fighting disasters.

And so the USS Kearsarge, having cleared up the mess left by the hurricane in Haiti and supplied medical care to poor eye patients on Curacao, is now off to provide humanitarian aid to Trinidad, Tobago and Guyana.

Back at the air base on Curacao, commander Habedank too cannot stress enough how much his staff do for the local folk in their free time: from cleaning up coral reefs to painting school buildings and laying out football fields.

At 05.00 hours a huge military AWAC returns to the airbase. The 25 crew have just made a 14-hour flight. Where they have been remains a secret. “We want to be transparent, but at the same time we can’t say what we have been doing or where we have been,” says Habedank.

Drugs haul

AWACS carry out some 800 flights above the Caribbean and parts of South America every year. On board many of these flights is a representative from the country over which the plane will fly, usually Ecuador or Colombia.

At present there are three FOLs in the region. As well as the airbase on Curacao, there is one on the Dutch island of Aruba (an autonomous region within the Kingdom of the Netherlands) and in Ecuador.

Last year, 214 tons of cocaine, 166 tons of heroin and five tons of marijuana were intercepted by the US airbase on Curacao. The actual arrests are carried out at sea by agents of the US department for homeland security.

But some people on Curacao see the US camp on their island as much more than a base for combating drug smuggling. “You only have to blink and before you know it you’ve got a fully-fledged military base,” says one local.

But Habedank laughs at the suggestion. Not only would this contravene agreements made with the Antilles and the Netherlands, but there are no rockets or ammunition on site, he says.

The commander stresses that flights from the base are carried out under a joint project involving various countries, coordinated from Florida. And until mid-2007, Venezuela too was part of the cooperation. Habedank: “But they’re not so friendly any more.”

Source: http://www.nrc.nl/international/Feat...t_to_Venezuela

[The.Delegate]

Well tensions are running high in South America. I believe Ecuador is closely aligned with Venezuela and Bolivia is also sympathetic. Obviously the US would like to control the oil in Venezuela, and the fact that Chavez is nutbar who needs to keep the rhetoric coming hard and fast in order to stay in power doesn't help.

And then of course Colombia is a US puppet, so any war with Colombia would probably see the US get involved. And if Venezuela were at war with Colombia, Ecuador would probably get involved as well. Not a pretty situation.

[SwiftBlade]

did you guys hear the latest news? apparently Colombia and Venezuela now are preparing for war. both countries pull militaries to their borders.

Oh thats great!,with both sides preoccupied those insidious dutch can swoop in conquer Venezuela,and legalize drugs in south america aswell.
oh those evil flying dutchmen.

[Kamos]

Never underestimate the Dutch, they are just waiting for you to turn your back and then BAM! You've got wooden shoe wearing SS marching down your home street and your countryside has been covered with windmills.

did you guys hear the latest news? apparently Colombia and Venezuela now are preparing for war. both countries pull militaries to their borders.

Oh is it that time of the month again? They actually seem to do that semi-frequently.

[Holger Danske]

Wow. I forsee Mr. Chavez claiming Green Peace as the next enemy of the state.

[Mcgruder]

Wow. I forsee Mr. Chavez claiming Green Peace as the next enemy of the state.

Must be joking, Green peace are even more socialist that Chavez is.

[Dr. Croccer]

Oh noez, our plan to add Venezuela as the province of ''Nieuw Lutjegast'' to our Empire has been found out. :<

[Hookah Smoking Caterpiller]

Oh noez, our plan to add Venezuela as the province of ''Nieuw Lutjegast'' to our Empire has been found out. :<

You evil dutch bastards!

I'd like to see a columbian-venzeuelan war, its been a while since there was a conventional war between evenly matched sides, for the last 60 years its just been western powers curb-stomping weaker states.

[Watchman]

I'd like to see a columbian-venzeuelan war, its been a while since there was a conventional war between evenly matched sides, for the last 60 years its just been western powers curb-stomping weaker states.

That seems to be forgetting all the wars between non-Western states since the Fifties... take, for example, the Iran-Iraq war which ran for most of the Eighties.

Though, really, all those really have proven is the same lesson the Western states learned and took to heart with the World Wars - Dont' Fight Someone Your Own Size.
The returns-of-investement are horribad.

[The.Delegate]

That seems to be forgetting all the wars between non-Western states since the Fifties... take, for example, the Iran-Iraq war which ran for most of the Eighties.

Though, really, all those really have proven is the same lesson the Western states learned and took to heart with the World Wars - Dont' Fight Someone Your Own Size.
The returns-of-investement are horribad.

Yep, and there's also, 'Don't fight a two front war.' and 'Don't fight someone out of your weight-class.'

[Watchman]

...and 'Don't fight someone out of your weight-class.'

You mean "above", don't you ?

[Barry Goldwater]

I stopped taking Chavez seriously a long time ago.

This is just another thing to laugh at today.

[King Edward III]

Those crafty Dutch.

[Dr. Croccer]

You evil dutch bastards!

I'd like to see a columbian-venzeuelan war, its been a while since there was a conventional war between evenly matched sides, for the last 60 years its just been western powers curb-stomping weaker states.

I actually wouldn't mind a war with Venezuela.

Could be fun.

[BlackPirate]

You evil dutch bastards!

I'd like to see a columbian-venzeuelan war, its been a while since there was a conventional war between evenly matched sides, for the last 60 years its just been western powers curb-stomping weaker states.

Iran-Iraq war was a nice one.But noone won^^