If War Breaks Out, Venezuela's 'Fifth Column' Will Have to Be Confronted
"One
mustn't underestimate the number of internal allies of Colombian-U.S. forces,
who, if war beyond the usual storm of declarations
broke out, would strike Venezuela. … No less than 25 percent of Venezuelans would in some way work for
the other side."
Addressing the U.N. General Assembly in September, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez says, 'It doesn't smell of sulfur any longer, it smells of hope. ... God should protect Obama from the bullets that killed Kennedy.'
In a hypothetical war with
the Commonwealth of Colombia, one must consider not only what Colombians living
in Venezuela might do - of whom there are many, and what a pigheaded crowd they
are! - but the possible actions of Uribe's Venezuelan allies [Uribe is
president of Colombia]. Take a look at their plans.
We have to accept it: this fifth column, long stewing
in its own juices (a thick broth of yearning to topple President Hugo Chávez at
any cost), is a mystery that must be accounted for in any military equation.
One doesn't have to be a Clausewitz to figure
that out.
[Editor's Note: A "fifth
column" is a group of people who clandestinely undermine a larger group,
such as a nation, from within, by aiding an external enemy.]
In a hypothetical conflict
with our neighbor Colombia, and unfortunately our Greater Colombian brothers
[encompassing the territories of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama] - the
conduct of collaborationist forces could be critical. The problem isn't a
matter of individuals enlisting on the enemy side. And of course, our not
inconsiderable security forces have at their disposal, among others, weapons of
mass destruction that could be disseminated on a grand scale.
According to political
scientist Prodigio Pérez, one mustn't underestimate the number of internal allies of Colombian-U.S. forces, who, if war beyond the usual storm of declarations broke out, would strike Venezuela. “No less than 25 percent of
Venezuelans would in some way work for the other side,” he says without batting
an eye.
“Are there that many traitors
among us?” I asked. Prodigio replied that in actuality, they are all patriots,
but that everyone, as we all know, loves their country in their own way.
Pérez applied Content Analysis to
statements made by several [Venezuelan] opposition leaders (most of them
“lizards,” in the political jargon of to our [Colombian] neighbors) and those
of the internationalists, and has concluded that they would gleefully support a
Colombian-U.S. military operation in order to achieve their life-long dreams of
regime change and the installation of their own style of democracy. They are
our potential Marshal
Pétains [Pétain was a French collaborator with Hitler], who thrive on
sinuous speeches, lectures full of quotes from foreign writers and the donning
of clothing so beloved by the "Triple A," the venerable Alliance of
Anti-Chavez columnists.
“In the past, when barber
shops and taxicabs were full of talk of a possible war in the Gulf [of Venezuela],
people said that immigrants from Colombia, including many women who work as
domestic help, would slit our throats before the fighting began,” Prodigio reminisces
as he recalls the “Corbeta
Caldas” crisis.
“This time, it's not even the
Colombians who are the prime suspects.”
