We have reported about the flights that go between Tehran and Caracas and the fact that there are inaccurate passenger lists (or none at all) and many times no cargo lists. This violates international law. I have been told by our connections in Venezuela that this cooperation is only growing and now this report: 

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have agreed by telephone to meet soon to boost cooperation on several levels, the Venezuelan foreign ministry said .
“Presidents Ahmadinejad and Chavez agreed to meet as soon as possible to continue boosting their industrial, scientific and technological development plans in benefit of their two nations,” the ministry said in a statement Sunday.
The two leaders have often met, the last time was in November in Tehran. They share a profound hatred of the United States and both their countries are members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Keep Reading …

In recent days we have learned that support for Hugo Chavez is slipping in Venezuela and that he claims the free media is terrorizing his country and so-called socialist reforms. Just one month removed from the standoff with Colombia, now we are continuing to learn that Chavez has intentions to spread unrest to the rest of Latin America. The latest information comes from an article in the Christian Science Monitor and includes some of this information.In 2006, Hugo Chavez described then-President Alejandro Toledo and the current President Alan García, as “caimans from the same sewer.” The same type of rhetoric he has launched at the United States, Colombia, Mexico and Europe. Keep Reading …

UPDATE

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez now threatens economic turmoil in the region and has convinced his pal, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to cut off all diplomatic ties with Colombia. This comes as Sec. State Condoleezza Rice showed strong support of our Colombian ally and U.S. Rep. from Florida Connie Mack says he’ll ask President Bush to designate Venezuela a state sponsor of terrorism. In an interview with me this afternoon, Mack said,

“The more desperate he comes, the more dangerous he becomes, the more dangerous the region becomes and that’s why we need to continue to spread the good will of the US so we can gain more allies and isolate those leaders who have turned to dictatorship.”

Keep Reading …

Here is the latest I have learned from reports tonight explaining the growing tensions in South America.

- All three countries are ratcheting up their rhetoric.

-Ecuador’s Rafael Correa visited Peru to begin a tour soliciting Latin American backing for sanctions against Colombia. This is in response to Saturday’s attack, when soldiers from Colombia went into Ecuador to hunt guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, who use the frontier region as a sanctuary.

-Colombian President Álvaro Uribe announced that he will ask the International Criminal Court to bring genocide charges against Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez, whom he has accused of sympathizing with the rebel group.

-Colombian officials contend that computer documents recovered in Saturday’s cross-border raid revealed that Ch¿vez had given more than $300 million to the FARC, the Marxist insurgency that has battled the Colombian government for more than 40 years.

-President Bush said Tuesday “I told the president that America fully supports Colombia’s democracy and that we firmly oppose any acts of aggression that could destabilize the region,” Bush said at the White House. “I told him that America will continue to stand with Colombia as it confronts violence and terror and fights drug traffickers.”

On the day we hear that rebels being expelled by Colombian and U.S. forces are freely setting up shop in neighboring Venezuela, along comes another Chavez maneuver in Venezuela. This time he makes a point to encourage Venezuelans to keep their language strong, but blaming english computer terms on U.S. Imperialism? Th story from the Associated Press follows the link. What do you think? Keep Reading …