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Oliver North stretching the facts -- I missed it.

A reader, Manuel Barrera, held me to task for not catching Oliver North's claim that one of the reasons the war on terror is not being won is because Chavez is giving refuge. He correctly points out:
...the war has been going in Colombia for over 40 years. Chavez has not been president that long.
Manuel Barrera | 08.12.05 - 4:13 pm | #
I have been blogging for a little over a month, and I totally missed this one. Thank you Manuel. Manuel added to my clarification by saying:
The truth about what Chavez is doing, as he builds up his military machinery, and gives sanctuary to terrorists in the region, should be of concern to the US and Latin American countries in the region. Oliver North makes the connection in his commentary today. ... I don't care for chavez but I appreciate honesty.
Manuel Barrera | 08.12.05 - 8:41 pm | #
Barrera is right and here is my correction. If the war on drugs has not been won over the last 40 years, it is because of the continued problems with corruption, violence, and who knows what sort of problems. Prior to Chavez coming into power, it would have nothing to do with Venezuela, though my understanding is that one of the various factions at war in Colombia is leftist communists. Allow me to clarify my previous post.

Here are Oliver North's comments:
One of the reasons Colombia has not won yet is because the narco-terrorists who are doling out the mayhem and murder in Colombia are finding refuge in Venezuela, with whom Colombia shares a 1,300 mile border. The near-dictatorial regime of Hugo Chavez in Caracas has granted the guerrillas a safe haven to launch attacks against Colombia. This, coupled with last month's launch of the new Chavez propaganda channel called Telesur, has caused growing concern in Bogota and other democratic capitals in the region.
While there are many dictator and regime I dislike, accuracy in reporting stories must be an integral part of my blogging, or I lose my credibility and your trust.

Nevertheless, setting aside the last 40 years, what I am reading from Oliver North's column is that there is evidence that Chavez is providing sanctuary to Colombian terrorists. This would just ad to Colombia's apparent and most recent impotence at weeding out the violence in their country. The fact remains: Chavez is currently making it harder for them, though I am sure he is not the only reason.

What Chavez has his hands in we won't know fully for some time. History will tell the story. Let us hope we all did our part to resist.

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