Chavez over-reacting?

[DeepIron]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7274038.stm
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/03/02/chavez.colombia/index.html

10 Battalions!?

He's just not going to be happy until he goes to war with someone...:nope:

[Tango589]

He best keep a lid on it until after May, as I am off to the Venezualan jungle for a week, followed by a week's R&R on Margharita island.:stare:

[Letum]

:hmm: I swear the topic title was a little more inflammatory just a second ago...

[DeepIron]

:hmm: I swear the topic title was a little more inflammatory just a second ago... It was, and that's why I changed it... ;)

So tell me, if Columbia goes into Ecuador, which incidentally is on its southern border, to take out a FARC leader, why does Chavez mobilize his forces when Venezuela is on the northern border?

The excursion wasn't into Venezuela...

[TteFAboB]

So tell me, if Columbia goes into Ecuador, which incidentally is on its southern border, to take out a FARC leader, why does Chavez mobilize his forces when Venezuela is on the northern border?

The excursion wasn't into Venezuela...

Why, it sure was. It's called an Alliance.

[DeepIron]

So tell me, if Columbia goes into Ecuador, which incidentally is on its southern border, to take out a FARC leader, why does Chavez mobilize his forces when Venezuela is on the northern border?

The excursion wasn't into Venezuela...
Why, it sure was. It's called an Alliance.

So, ok. Ecuador and Venezuela have an alliance. Columbia goes into Ecuador to take out a FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) leader, not an Ecuadoran.

Chavez immediately escalates, closes the Venezuelan Embassy in Bogota and issues this statement:

"In comments directed at Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Chavez said: "Think well. Don't think about doing that over here, don't think it. Because it would very serious, a military raid in Venezuelan (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/venezuela) territory would be 'causus belli' [cause of war]. There is not any excuse.""

Have the Columbians made any overt moves AT ALL towards Venezuela? No. None. AND the Ecuadoran President knew of the operation...

Chavez is a nutcase... THIS is why 3rd world countries shouldn't have nukes IMO.

[darius359au]

I love the way Chavez described the FARC guy as a "good Revolutionary" instead of what he and FARC are - Drug growing/selling , Kidnapping Terrorists:shifty:

[Kapitan_Phillips]

FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia)


lol @ dyslexic Columbians

[bookworm_020]

Has Chavez ever under reacted???:hmm::hmm:

[PeriscopeDepth]

Because it's a great opportunity for him to stick it to one of (if not THE) the US's biggest allies in the region. And it WILL make him look like a hero to a lot of people on that continent.

PD

[JSLTIGER]

FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia)

lol @ dyslexic Columbians

They're not dyslexic, the acronym is for the group's name in Spanish...

In this case, (I can't believe I'm going to say this) I actually agree with Chavez. Colombia has no right to enter Venezuelan territory.

That being said, Chavez should not be allowing FARC to take refuge in Venezuela either, and should be taking steps to throw them out.

[Kapitan_Phillips]

FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia)

lol @ dyslexic Columbians
They're not dyslexic, the acronym is for the group's name in Spanish...

In this case, (I can't believe I'm going to say this) I actually agree with Chavez. Colombia has no right to enter Venezuelan territory.

That being said, Chavez should not be allowing FARC to take refuge in Venezuela either, and should be taking steps to throw them out.


Forcicos Arminicos Republicos Colombinicos :know:

[DeepIron]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/03/02/chavez.colombia/index.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7274222.stm

Ecuador has now sent troops to its northern border and has expelled the Columbian Ambassador... :nope:

[kenijaru]

Chavez is a nutcase... THIS is why 3rd world countries shouldn't have nukes IMO.

the fact that Chaves is a nutcase is no ground for such a racist coment!

[DeepIron]

Chavez is a nutcase... THIS is why 3rd world countries shouldn't have nukes IMO.
the fact that Chaves is a nutcase is no ground for such a racist coment!

My opinion makes me a racist? :roll: I wouldn't put nukes in the hands of ANY nutcase, 3rd world or not... :shifty:

[kenijaru]

Chavez is a nutcase... THIS is why 3rd world countries shouldn't have nukes IMO.
the fact that Chaves is a nutcase is no ground for such a racist coment!
My opinion makes me a racist? :roll: I wouldn't put nukes in the hands of ANY nutcase, 3rd world or not... :shifty:

yes... it does. also, you said "THIS is why 3rd world countries..." that gives the idea of "not ANY 3rd world"...
and the term "3rd world" is... by itself, racist.

(and yes... YOU BET IM P.O.'d)

[bradclark1]

yes... it does. also, you said "THIS is why 3rd world countries..." that gives the idea of "not ANY 3rd world"...
and the term "3rd world" is... by itself, racist.

(and yes... YOU BET IM P.O.'d)
Bull!! Thats not even PC racist. What do you call a third world country? Underprivileged?

[Boris]

If anyone is interested in watching here's a great documentary about a girl that joins FARC

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2512240458143002895

[DeepIron]

yes... it does. also, you said "THIS is why 3rd world countries..." that gives the idea of "not ANY 3rd world"... Quite true IN MY OPINION. It is my opinion that there is not a single 3rd World country that is sufficiently advanced socially and economically to handle the responsibility of owning nuclear weapons.

yes... it does. also, you said "THIS is why 3rd world countries..." that gives the idea of "not ANY 3rd world"...
and the term "3rd world" is... by itself, racist.

(and yes... YOU BET IM P.O.'d) Bull!! Thats not even PC racist. What do you call a third world country? Underprivileged?
Ok, kenijaru, to satisfy your apparent indignation, let me re-phrase my comment:

"Chavez is a nutcase... THIS is why underprivileged countries shouldn't have nukes IMO."

BTW, Brazil has, as of 2007, two nucler power facilities...;)

[Konovalov]

Now I think it is you, kenijaru that is overreacting. :-? Are you offended by terms such as "Global South" or "developing countries"?

[kenijaru]

Now I think it is you, kenijaru that is overreacting. :-? Are you offended by terms such as "Global South" or "developing countries"?
not by the term itself, but by the use its given to it (usualy derogatory)
we (south americans) are always subject for such comments of pejorative nature, and its only natural that we are sick of it!

[DeepIron]

Now I think it is you, kenijaru that is overreacting. :-? Are you offended by terms such as "Global South" or "developing countries"?
not by the term itself, but by the use its given to it (usualy derogatory)
we (south americans) are always subject for such comments of pejorative nature, and its only natural that we are sick of it!
There are three things wrong here:
1. You evidently consider yourself the citizen of a 3rd world country because you're a "south american"?
2. You invoke "we" when only you are responsible for your reaction.
3. It's not "natural". I know people who are subject to derogatory statements constantly (they happen to be Hispanic and are friends of mine, BTW) and they take the "high ground" and ignore it.

[Tchocky]

Venezuela ain't no Third World.

[DeepIron]

Venezuela ain't no Third World.
I find the Wikipedia's definition sufficient: "Third World is a name given to nations that are generally considered to be underdeveloped economically." In which case, the PC version: "developing or emerging nation" is probably more acceptable...

[Tchocky]

Nothing PC about it. Venezuela doesn't qualify as economically underdeveloped.

[JSLTIGER]

The term third world doesn't even refer to economic development.

The first, second and third world idea is a concept which dates back to the Cold War. The first world was represented by the US and its Allies (NATO) while the second world was the USSR and its Allies (Warsaw Pact). Third world was the term used to describe non-aligned nations. There was no reference to economics or the economies of these countries when the terms were created.

Third world has since been coopted to mean economic less developed because there was a noted trend that most of these nations had less developed economies than those of the First and Second world nations. The term is not meant to be derogatory, and it certainly is not racist.

[mrbeast]

Just sounds like Hugo thumping his tub again to me. :yep:

[SUBMAN1]

Has Chavez ever under reacted???:hmm::hmm:Damn it! You beat me to it! :p :D

-S

[bradclark1]

The term third world doesn't even refer to economic development.

If you ask the average person on the street they'll say underdeveloped nation. It doesn't matter that you found third world in an encyclopedia or whatever.

[Brag]

Chavez has been greatly exagerated as a bogeyman. The White House has always had a primitive tendency for a shallow diplomacy based on personalities.

[JSLTIGER]

The term third world doesn't even refer to economic development.
If you ask the average person on the street they'll say underdeveloped nation. It doesn't matter that you found third world in an encyclopedia or whatever.

I didn't use an encyclopedia to find that out, it was something that I learned about a long time ago. The point is that although that is what people may think it means, that is not what it does mean. Thus, that makes the people using it in economic terms wrong. It also means that the reactions of some of the people in this thread to the term because they feel it is rascist is unwarranted.

[AdlerGrosmann]

Leaders will always be paranoid and are possible to over react about other country's movements. That's nothing new..unless he actually does something.