The Colombians are concerned about this ass clown over the Granda snatch. It's all they're talking about.

My inlaws are up on the border. Cucuta is all screwed up at the moment. Most of the gas and motor oil in town was from Ven. Also pretty much everyone in town has their vehicles registered and plated in Ven.

There are also some folks who are "Caught behind enemy lines" so to speak as they lived on one side and worked on the other ect.

According to reports I am hearing on the ground, things are not good right now, but, this will blow over fairly quick. Too much cross border trade to prolong this stupidity.

Getting alot of reports from the ground up there in the frozen North East?

I am on the ground, where do you think that info about my family came from? :rolleyes:

Sheeeit, I thought you were up in the air most of the time?

TR

Well ya know Gravity Sucks, and we gotta get gas every so often :D

New development?
 

London 20.01.05 | According to Colombian daily El Tiempo, Alvaro Uribe's administration has sent to Venezuela's government a list of terrorists, members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The list contains the names of Luis Edgar Devia Silva, a.k.a. Raúl Reyes; Luciano Marín Arango, a.k.a. Iván Márquez; Germán Briceño Suárez, a.k.a. Grannobles; known members of FARC's upper echelons. Colombia alleges that these terrorists spend long periods of time in Venezuela conducting their affairs, moreover relatives of them are believed to be residing in Venezuela.

Colombian official sources told El Tiempo that the sent documents have specific addresses, relative's names, hotels and farms where the wanted terrorists stay.

Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel insisted that his government does not harbour terrorists and affirmed "I am prepared to take ofensive action directly and demand the Colombian government to tell us exactly the locations of the FARC camps and the whereabouts of those seven terrorists, for the failure to do so would demonstrate that the Colombain government is a big liar".

Colombian Foreign Secretary Carolina Barco said from Leticia "the documents prove the presence of FARC leaders and guerrilla camps in that country [Venezuela] and that of Rodrigo Granda".

The names of guerrilla bosses who spent long periods in Venezuela:

* Luis Édgar Devia Silva, a.k.a Raúl Reyes. FARC's International speaker.

* Luciano Marín Arango, a.k.a. Iván Márquez. FARC's Commanding officer of the Caribbean Block and member of the secretariat.

* Nicolás Rodríguez Bautista, a.k.a. Gabino. National Liberation Army's (ELN) top leader.

* Herlington Chamorro García, a.k.a. Antonio García. ELN's military boss.

* Jesús Emilio Carvajalino, a.k.a. Andrés París. Member of FARC's international committee and Caguan's theme committee.

* Suexis Pausías Hernández, a.k.a. Juan Santrich. Member of FARC's Caribbean Block.

* Germán Briceño Suárez, a.k.a. Grannobles. Brother of 'Mono Jojoy' and military head of FARC's Oriental Block.

Yup, had a video-conference with the suegro last night. He has a consulting business with work all over Colombia to include up by the border in Norte Santander. The in-laws are originally from Santander and Norte Santander, albeit like many folks, they are now living/working in Bogotá.

You are right; it is frozen right about now here in Fairfield County. Forecast this weekend is for up to 18 inches of new snow.

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1471

Keep in mind that www.venezuelanalysis.com is a very much a Chavista site.

In one way, it might be a occasionally useful source for Venezuelan news. These guys are so far left that they believe 100 percent in the "revolution" and don't even bother to try to put a moderate spin on Chavez's actions. The left-leaning publications coming out of the US or UK typically downplay Chavez's most obvious authoritarian acts.

Strangely enough, it's where I've found a lot of anti-Chavista news. I guess it's all in how you look at it.

You guys can skip this post unless you are really interested in reading about Venezualanalysis and lefty journalism. This might be one of the few things on this board that I can contribute, so excuse me if I ramble.

If you click on its Analysis page, you'll see articles reprinted from the likes of Counterpunch, Rebelion.org, Socialist Worker, The Militant, and my favorite Narconews.

Some sample headlines are:

Venezuela, An Example of Democracy Empowering the Poor
Defending Chavez’s ‘Bolivarian Revolution’
Venezuela: "A struggle for our America's future"
Cuban Doctors in Venezuela Operate Free Neighborhood Clinics

and the very optimistic

Living the Utopia

Venezuelanalysis's lead writer (and I suspect its founder) is Gregory Wilpert, whose first published piece was an "eye-witness" account of the fighting in downtown Caracas that triggered the coup in 2002. Hours after it happened he had positively identified the infamous rooftop snipers that were said to have acted as agent provocatuers and triggered the shooting as members of Bandera Roja

That he could identify the shooters as Bandera Roja is impossible, and the rest of the article is filled with other allegations presented as fact. That article immediately appeared on so many leftist websites at the time and annoyed the hell out of me.

It is true that BR is a group so far left that they broke with Chavez and joined the opposition. (Strange bedfollows, indeed.) While I wouldn't put it past the opposition to have kicked it off using shooters, I did find it strange that of all the folks that afterward claimed to have seen rooftop snipers, no one caught it on videotape. And yet footage from news crews and amatuers caught half a dozen Chavistas firing handguns into the opposition crowd (to defend themselves, no doubt ).

Venezuelanalysis claims to keep its news side separate from its editorial side, but it's impossible for objective reporters to work both sides of the fence.

I don't want to hi-jack NDD's thread, but wonder if you posted in response to my 1/21/05 post. I'm aware of Venezualanalysis' biases, which is why I find it even more noteworthy when they post what I consider to be anti-Chavista news. That they might consider it pro-Chavista makes it even more interesting to me. Kind of like watching CNN. :)

Hi-jack over.

Guerrilla Nation
The arrest of FARC terrorist Ricardo Granda sheds new light on Hugo Chavez's ongoing support of terrorism.
by Thor Halvorssen
01/26/2005 12:00:00 AM

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Conten...5/177yckaw.asp

Venezuela to Beef Up Security Along Colombian Border (Update1)

March 4 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, said it plans to beef up security along its border with neighboring Colombia to reduce the incursion of guerrillas and paramilitaries.

Interior and Justice Minister Jesse Chacon said in a televised news conference that Venezuela plans to reinforce security along the entire border, including sending helicopters to conduct both nighttime and daylight flights.

``What we are looking at is to reinforce the entire border,'' Chacon said. ``We want reduce the number of crimes'' that are being perpetrated by Colombian irregulars.

Venezuela and Colombia share a 2,200-kilometer (1,320-mile) border, much of which is loosely patrolled, leading to kidnappings and extortion. Colombia has charged that guerrillas often use Venezuelan territory as a safe haven.

Chacon didn't say how many more troops would be moved to the border. Additional steps will be announced later, he said.

Venezuela is purchasing 44 Russian helicopters for the border, Chacon said earlier.

Russian arms sales to Venezuela have been criticized by the U.S., which has claimed that the armaments could be funneled to guerrillas in Colombia.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=ah035NycZSc8