Colombians Protest In Streets Over Chavez
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By Luis Jaime Acosta
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Several thousand
people marched in the streets of Colombia's
major cities on Friday to protest against
what they criticize as meddling by
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as tensions
rise between the Andean neighbors.
Chanting "No More Chavez" and waving
Colombian flags, the marches snaked through
Bogota, accompanied by smaller protests in
other cities including Caracas and some in
the United States and Europe after
organizers called for demonstrations through
the Internet social networks Facebook and
Twitter.
Venezuela and Colombia are caught in a
diplomatic dispute fueled by Bogota's
charges the Chavez government supports
Colombian FARC rebels and over a Colombian
plan to allow U.S. troops more access to its
military bases. U.S. foe Chavez warns the
dispute threatens more than $7 billion in
bilateral trade.
"Chavez has to know that Latin America
doesn't belong to him," said Miguel Fierro,
one protest organizer.
Chavez, a Cuba ally who urges socialist
revolution to counter U.S. influence, says
allowing the U.S. military more access to
Colombian bases for anti-drug and
counter-guerrilla missions is a threat to
Venezuela and South America.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and U.S.
officials say the plan does not include
using the bases to attack other nations. But
Chavez has ordered Colombian imports
replaced with goods from other countries,
though bilateral trade is still flowing.
In Bogota and other cities, protesters
carried banners demanding Chavez respect
Colombian sovereignty and images mocking the
Venezuelan leader who has dismissed the
marches against him as "stupid."
"We're protesting with our Colombian
brothers because we know what we have in
Venezuela is a tyranny, a dictatorship
disguised as a democracy," said Maurilio
Gonzalez, a Venezuelan engineer marching in
Bogota.
The Colombian government recently protested
before the Organization of American States
over Chavez's "interventionist" project
after the leftist leader ordered members of
his party to reach out to sympathetic
Colombian lawmakers and citizens.
Ties between OPEC member Venezuela and
Colombia have soured before in the last five
years: once over the arrest of a Colombian
rebel in Caracas and last year when
Colombian troops killed another guerrilla
boss hiding in Ecuador. But trade and
diplomatic ties soon resumed after both
incidents. |
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