Shocker: Chavez Supports Terrorism

While its not a smoking gun, there is definitely some smoke here.

Colombia's police chief said Monday that documents recovered from a slain rebel leader's computer reveal financial ties between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Colombia's largest guerrilla group, including a recent message that mentions US$300 million in Venezuelan support for the rebels.

The official, Gen. Oscar Naranjo, didn't say if there was any indication in the Feb. 14 message that Venezuela actually delivered this money to the rebels.

Another document found in the laptop belonging to slain rebel leader Raul Reyes suggests financial ties between Chavez and the rebels dating back to 1992, Naranjo said. At the time, Chavez was jailed in Venezuela for leading a coup attempt, and was plotting the comeback that eventually led to his election as president in 1998.

"A note recovered from Raul Reyes speaks of how grateful Chavez was for the 100 million pesos (about US$150,000 at the time) that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, delivered to Chavez when he was in prison," said Naranjo told a news conference.

In a perfect world the UN would move in and verify the quality of these allegations, and begin an investigation. You can stop laughing now.

Is anyone actually surprised Chavez supports terrorism? The only people who would even claim disbelief are those who have put political ideology ahead of logic regarding Chavez. It is sad there are so many of those folks.

I don't believe anything will come of this, but I am starting to the think the silence from Washington means there are a lot of people who do hope something happens. Columbia has both its eastern and southwestern border to defend with troops massing on both, and there could be as many as 10,000 US troops in Columbia right now as "trainers" for the Columbian military. If Venezuela conducted an air strike, one can imagine there are many who would absolutely love to send in the F-22As to clear the air space, and blow all those shiny new Russian fighters Chavez bought the last few years to hell. It would be hard for Chavez to stay in power once his military is humiliated for one of his political statements, which is why I expect nothing will happen.