COLOMBIA-VENEZUELA:
Possibly the Bitterest
Conflict in a Century
By Humberto Márquez *
CARACAS, (IPS) -
The neighbouring
countries of Colombia
and Venezuela, whose
governments have the
most diametrically
opposed ideologies in
South America, have come
within a whisker of
breaking off relations
after a harsh exchange
of accusations between
Presidents Álvaro Uribe
and Hugo Chávez.
The confrontation
escalated rapidly since
Wednesday, when Uribe
"fired" Chávez from his
role as a mediator
seeking a humanitarian
agreement between Bogotá
and the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC), to exchange
hostages held by the
insurgents for
imprisoned guerrillas.
Chávez said the move was
"a spit in the face,"
and that Uribe was "an
unworthy president." He
accused him of lying and
of "not wanting the war
in Colombia to end," and
announced he was putting
bilateral relations "in
the freezer."
"What I have said is
very serious. Messrs.
Ministers, Messrs.
Generals, be on the
alert. Economic and
trade relations,
Colombian companies in
our country and our
businesses over there,
will all suffer," said
the Venezuelan
president.
Uribe replied by
claiming that Chávez was
"not interested in peace
in Colombia, but rather
that Colombia be a
victim of a terrorist
FARC government. We do
not need people who
legitimise terrorism."
"If you are spreading an
expansionist project on
the continent, in
Colombia this project
will make no headway,"
Uribe told Chávez. "You
can’t bully the
continent and set it on
fire as you do, speaking
against Spain one day,
against the United
States the next, being
rude to Mexico another
day, Peru the next and
Bolivia the following
morning."
"The first casualty of
this conflict is the
South American
integration project,
with its Union of South
American Nations (UNASUR)
and the Bank of the
South. Needless to say,
the possible reentry of
Venezuela to the Andean
Community (made up of
Bolivia, Colombia,
Ecuador and Peru) is now
out of the question,"
former Venezuelan deputy
foreign minister and
political analyst
Fernando Gerbasi told
IPS.
"But Chávez’s gravest
words were his call to
the generals to be on
the alert, which sounds
like confining all
troops to barracks in
readiness for action,
and the Colombian
military will take that
in all seriousness
also," said Gerbasi, who
served as ambassador to
Colombia from 1990-1992
and 1997-2000.
Former Venezuelan
foreign and defence
minister Fernando Ochoa
(1991-1993) said that
"since perhaps the early
20th century, we have
not had an episode of
tension like this. There
have always been
stresses and strains,
but the presidents
always tried to stay on
the margins, whereas now
they are in the ring,
and the honour and
dignity of their
countries are in there
with them."
In 1901 there were
skirmishes between both
countries’ troops when
Venezuelan President
Cipriano Castro
(1899-1908) assisted
liberal Colombian
insurgent Rafael Uribe
Uribe at the border.
In 1987 the countries
were on the verge of
armed conflict because
the Colombian
missile-bearing corvette
Caldas anchored in the
Gulf of Venezuela, which
Colombia considers not
to have been demarcated
yet, but Caracas claims
as its own.
"But that was a
situation that escalated
gradually, whereas this
crisis has struck like
lightning, and could
lead to further
incidents unless other
governments, like
Brazil’s, intervene
rapidly to calm things
down," Gerbasi said.
In January 2005, Chávez
and Uribe clashed after
Colombian agents
kidnapped Rodrigo Granda,
the FARC’s "foreign
minister", in Caracas
and handed him over to
Colombian authorities at
the border, but the
presidents did not
exchange insults as they
have now done.
Former Colombian
president Ernesto Samper
(1994-1998) called the
present crisis "an
extremely grave
situation," and former
foreign minister Rodrigo
Pardo maintained that
"the FARC are to blame
for the whole incident,
because they didn’t keep
their promises. Everyone
knew that Chávez would
use risky methods in his
role as mediator, which
would sooner or later
exasperate Uribe."
Chávez arrived in France
on Nov. 20 without
having obtained solid
proof of life from the
FARC for
French-Colombian hostage
Ingrid Betancourt, nor
for any of the other
hostages, and he
complained about the
difficulties Uribe had
put in the way of his
meetings with guerrilla
commanders.
Uribe called off
Chávez’s participation
in seeking a
prisoner-hostage swap
after the Venezuelan
leader spoke briefly by
telephone with Colombian
army chief General Mario
Montoya. Colombian
Senator Piedad Córdoba
had called Montoya and
passed the receiver over
to Chávez.
According to Bogotá,
Chávez broke his word on
agreed working methods,
which expressly forbade
him to talk to Colombian
military commanders. But
according to the
Venezuelan government,
Uribe used this as a
spurious pretext to
abort the ongoing
negotiations.
On either side of the
border there is concern
about the possible
economic impact of such
an abrupt end to the
friendship between the
two presidents, which
was perhaps always more
pretence than reality.
Bilateral trade came to
about four billion
dollars in 2006, and
this year may reach
between five and six
billion dollars. The
trade balance favours
Colombia, which up to
August 2007 had exported
goods worth 2.76 billion
dollars to Venezuela.
"I think the rhetoric
has reached its peak,
and what is called for
now are attempts at
reconciliation and the
restoration of
normality. Let’s hope
concord will prevail,
and that relations are
not broken off," said
María Luisa Chiappe,
head of the
Colombian-Venezuelan
Chamber of Commerce, in
Bogotá.
Between Táchira, in
southwestern Venezuela,
and Norte de Santander,
in northeastern
Colombia, is the busiest
section of the border
between the two Andean
nations in terms of
trade and employment.
IPS was able to confirm
the extent of anxiety
that further escalation
of the spat might
increase difficulties
for trade and supplies
in that area.
Venezuela buys food,
leather and textiles
from Colombia, and
Colombia buys fuel and
agrochemical products
from Venezuela. Small
traders who make a
living from the price
differentials of some of
these goods are among
those most concerned
about the crisis.
The owner of a shop in
Cúcuta, Norte de
Santander, told IPS that
"Chávez is crazy"
because of the way he
ranted at Uribe. But a
street vendor at a juice
stand regretted that the
negotiations, "which
were going well," were
cut short.
On the other hand, "pimpineros",
who smuggle jerry cans
of gasoline across the
border from Venezuela to
Colombia, reckon that
the conflict will not
affect their business in
the least.
Meanwhile, in Bogotá
demonstrations in
support of Uribe are
being organised, and
Venezuelan politicians
infer that Chávez’s
followers will do the
same in Caracas. This
will affect the climate
leading up to the Dec. 2
referendum, when
Venezuelans will vote on
a major overhaul of the
constitution.
"We know Chávez, and
he’s a consummate
politician. Freezing
relations with Colombia
is a manoeuvre related
to the referendum,
because opinion polls
show that he could
lose," said Teodoro
Petkoff, a former
presidential candidate
and editor of the
opposition newspaper Tal
Cual.
In the heat of his
controversy with Uribe
on Sunday, Chávez said
that relations between
Venezuela and Spain
would also remain
"frozen" until King Juan
Carlos apologises for
interrupting him at the
Ibero-American Summit in
Santiago, Chile, saying,
"why don’t you shut up?"
* With additional
reporting from Constanza
Viera in Cúcuta,
Colombia.
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