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FARC, Hugo Chavez

Pictures of chained-by-the-neck hostages should haunt moral supporters of Chavez & Sarkozy forever



It didn’t take Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez long to show where he is coming from on the recent release of two Colombian hostages by their cruel captors. In the space of two short days, Chavez has taken on the role as numero uno PR flak for the dreaded Revolutionary Armed forces of Colombia (FARC), the hemisphere’s biggest kidnapping force with 14,000 armed fighters. While Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has managed to push the world’s most expert kidnapping contingent back into the jungle, Chavez attempts to bring them out as heroes.

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Although FARC has been identified as terrorists by both the US and EU, a release emboldened Chavez has stepped out onto the world stage calling FARC “true armies” who shouldn’t be categorized as terrorists. In other words, politics and power not compassion is driving the agenda of this Judas to Colombians who proudly calls Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a friend. In the precise words of this megalomaniac, FARC and the National Liberation Army “are not terrorists, they are true armies…They must be recognized.” Tell that to the anxiety-ridden loved ones of hundreds if not thousands of FARC captives languishing behind barbed wire jungle camps--chained by the neck 24 hours of every day. “(Kidnapped) Colombian soldiers and police live chained all day by the neck,” former lawmaker Consuelo Gonzalez, captured in 2001 and released on Thursday along with Clara Rojas told Colombia’s Carocol Radio. “Whatever they have to do, wherever they have to go, to bathe, to wash their clothes, they carry their chains.” In the words of Ingrid Betancourt, touted for release by Chavez and French President Nicolas Sarkozy--but still in FARC chains, “Here, we are living like the dead.” “The rebels hold hundreds of hostages for ransom and political leverage as part of their four-decade-old war against the state, which has been fueled over the past 20 years by Colombia’s multi-billion-dollar cocaine trade.” ([url=http://www.yahoonews.com]http://www.yahoonews.com[/url], Jan. 12, 2008). Though you’d never know it by reading the world mainstream media, the majority of the hostages held by FARC are not presidential and vice presidential candidates, but average citizens. They are Colombian soldiers and police officers. Three of the hostages are Americans—Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell—all Defense Department contractors held in a jungle camp since their surveillance plane crashed five years ago. The world, rarely hears about the average people chained by the neck by FARC. As this drama is played out by the likes of Chavez, Sarkozy and their fawning celebrity groupies, not much media play is given to the fact that this deadly duo negotiated for the release of Clara Rojas’ son Emmanuel, who was not in FARC’s position to give, as he had been placed by FARC into the care of a local peasant family since age 8 months. Small wonder how cries of outrage have followed Chavez’s call for FARC support. Like Marxists the world over, FARC claims to be fighting for a fairer distribution of wealth. Yet it funds itself mainly by drug trafficking and the government says it holds some 750 hostages either for ransom or political leverage. “They are insurgent forces that have a political project,” Chavez said in a marathon speech to lawmakers. “I say it even though someone could be bothered by it.” (Fox News, Jan. 12, 2008).\ Bothered by FARC? “A spokesman for Colombian President Alvaro Uribe later read a statement that said FARC guerillas are terrorists because they “kidnap, place bombs indiscriminately, recruit and murder children, murder pregnant women and the elderly, and use anti-personnel mines that have left thousands of innocent victims.” Meanwhile, first person accounts of how FARC treats its hostages are the stuff of horror movies. Punished after a failed escape attempt, Rojas and Betancourt had snakes, tarantulas and even a dead tiger thrown into their bunks. Chavez, Sarkozy and company are using Colombian hostages—chained by the neck--for self-aggrandizement. Safe from snakes and tarantulas, these crass politicians talk to the media from the comfort and safety of their own countries. AWOL in his love nest during last Thursday’s hostage release, Sarkozy has confirmed that he will sign a nuclear cooperation deal with the United Arab Emirates during his regional tour. According to BBC News, “It will be the third such deal Mr. Sarkozy has made with Muslim countries since taking office in May last year. Shame on world union leaders and celebrities for providing moral support to Chavez and Sarkozy. May the pictures of the innocent hostages held by FARC haunt their dreams forever. See hostages’ pictures here.


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Judi McLeod -- Bio and Archives -- Judi McLeod, Founder, Owner and Editor of Canada Free Press, is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years’ experience in the print and online media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared throughout the ‘Net, including on Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.

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