Redstate

Posted at 8:06am on Jul. 3, 2008 A Roundup of the Colombian FARC hostage rescue.

Which, by all accounts, was one for the books.

By Moe Lane

As you've no doubt heard, fifteen hostages were rescued yesterday from the South American terrorist group FARC. Actually, what you probably heard was that French-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt (oddly, though she ran for President of Colombia, it's never the other way around), Three Americans, and mumblemumblemumble some Colombian guys mumblemumblemumble got rescued, but that's just the American media's little way.

But I digress.

Read on.

Posted in Colombia | FARC | Foreign Affairs | The War On Terrorism | Uribe — Comments (16)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:08am on Mar. 11, 2008 Unshrewd

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Sometimes, I think that the only reason why politicians have feet is so that they can shoot them:

What is it about Democrats and Hugo Chávez? Even as the Venezuelan strongman was threatening war last week against Colombia, Congress was threatening to hand him a huge strategic victory by spurning Colombia's free trade overtures to the U.S.

This isn't the first time Democrats have come to Mr. Chávez's aid, but it would be the most destructive. The Venezuelan is engaged in a high-stakes competition over the political and economic direction of Latin America. He wants the region to follow his path of ever greater state control of the economy, while assisting U.S. enemies wherever he can. He's already won converts in Bolivia and Ecuador, and he came far too close for American comfort in Mexico's election last year.

Meanwhile, Colombian President Álvaro Uribe is embracing greater economic and political freedom. He has bravely assisted the U.S fight against narco-traffickers, and he now wants to link his country more closely to America with a free-trade accord. As a strategic matter, to reject Colombia's offer now would tell everyone in Latin America that it is far more dangerous to trust America than it is to trash it.

Yet Democrats on Capitol Hill are doing their best to help Mr. Chávez prevail against Mr. Uribe. Even as Mr. Chávez was doing his war dance, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus was warning the White House not to send the Colombia deal to the Hill for a vote without the permission of Democratic leaders. He was seconded by Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel, who told Congress Daily that "they don't have the votes for it, it's not going to come on the floor," adding that "what they [the White House] don't understand it's not the facts on the ground, it's the politics that's in the air."

[. . .]

These are the same Democrats who preach the virtues of "soft power" and diplomacy, while deriding Mr. Bush for being too quick to use military force. But trade is a classic form of soft power that would expand U.S. and Latin ties in a web of commercial interests. More than 8,000 U.S. companies currently export to Colombia, nearly 85% of which are small and medium-sized firms. Colombia is already the largest South American market for U.S. farm products, and the pact would open Colombia to new competition and entrepreneurship.

Of course, as the article makes clear, foot-shooting on this particular issues is a phenomenon restricted only to certain politicians. But those certain politicians act like veritable centipedes. They are going to go through a lot of bullets before this issue has a chance of ending well.

Posted in Colombia | Congressional Shortsightedness | Foreign Affairs | Free Trade | Venezuela — Comments (2)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:15pm on Mar. 10, 2008 Choosing Sides

Democrats Dither While Colombia Burns

By Mark I

Jeff Emanuel detailed the $18 billion tax increase on oil companies that the Democratic-controlled House pushed through early last week. Buried in that bill was a little publicized gift to Venezuelan dictator, international pariah, and Bush basher extraordinaire, Hugo Chavez. Chavez’s Citgo, which he regularly uses like a personal PR firm with its offers of cheap heating oil to economically underprivileged communities, “From the people of Venezuela,” was exempted from the tax increase imposed on the other major oil companies because it does not get its oil from within the United States. All of Citgo’s supply is furnished by Venezuela’s state-owned oil company.

Meanwhile, Chavez is menacing Colombia over that country’s pursuit of Marxist rebels into neighboring Ecuador. Chavez has massed troops on the border, closed commerce between the two countries, except for perishables, and has called Colombia, “the Israel of Latin America,” among other less attention-grabbing insults. Colombia is an ally of the United States in both the war on terror and the war on drugs; and has been fighting on both fronts simultaneously in its battle with the narco-terrorist rebel group FARC. It was a FARC leader that Colombian forces killed at his camp inside Ecuador, the very same one to whom Chavez had recently pledged $300 million in aid, according to evidence found on the dead terrorist’s computer, the Colombian government has announced.

Where might Hugo Chavez get that kind of money to lavish on terrorist groups in neighboring democratic countries? From Venezuela’s vast oil wealth, perhaps? The same oil wealth that the Democratic Congress just voted to protect by exempting Citgo, the Venezuelan-supplied oil company, from a tax increase imposed on oil companies operating in America? Surely that can’t be.

Oh, it can and more. At the same time Democrats are tossing bouquets in the form of tax exemptions at Chavez, they are blocking Colombia from receiving valuable economic benefits by refusing to discuss let alone pass the Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

Read on…

Posted in Colombia | Democrats | Free Trade | Hugo Chavez | Liberals — Comments (10)/ Email this page » / Read More »