Saturday, September 06, 2014

"Worse than a crime, a mistake"

We just learned that Lorent Saleh, a vociferous student activist against the Chavez regime has been expelled from Colombia to Venezuela. I have no doubt that Lorent Saleh crossed the line in Colombia on what political activities a foreigner can undertake there. I am certain that there might be justified reasons for the Colombian government to ask him to leave the country.

But there is ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE for the Santos government to expel him to Venezuela where Lorent Saleh is subjected to political persecution.


What Colombia should have done is to arrest Saleh and give him and his lawyers a few days to find a suitable place of exile. And even if no country wanted Saleh, there was still the option to keep him in jail in Colombia; or to assign him to a given sector with formal restrictions that if he were to break would mean instant deportation to Venezuela, his country of citizenship.

Why has Colombia done that? And I stress the title, worse than a crime, a major political mistake for Santos (attributed to Talleyrand when Napoleon had the duke of Enghien summarily executed).

I think that Santos is mired in a peace process that from here looks like going nowhere good. And this without the need to pay attention to Uribe's screams. Santos has reached a situation where after a difficult reelection that was gained from the left, far from his natural base, he has to pay the piper. And the piper is Venezuela (directed by Cuba) which will or will not allow the FARC to survive the peace process to be able to come back violently whenever it is convenient for them.

As a button I can also bring forward the promotion of deeply discredited ex Colombian president Ernesto Samper to the UNASUR chair. He hurriedly offered his services to rekindle the dialogue in Venezuela. He went as far a saying that Maduro is a man of dialogue, a man of peace.  This proves that any mediation Samper may offer is a waste of time for the Venezuelan opposition. Clearly Samper is pro status quo in Venezuela. The other explanation, that Samper is woefully misinformed, cannot hold, of course, considering that he is an ex president that has tirelessly worked at remaining relevant in Colombia in spite of all the charges associated to his presidency, involving drug traffic which is akin as involving the FARC.

No, the reason why Samper is UNASUR head is that UNASUR needs to keep inside Colombia to remain relevant (I think that ship has sailed...). Also, now that Santos is about to give a chance to the FARC to become a political force that could eventually win elections in Colombia, the left in power from Buenos Aires to Caracas  want a Colombian like Samper to be anything from the useful idiot to the active collaborator.

Thus, from the deportation of Saleh to the meddling of Samper (who I personally totally mistrust) there is a clear pattern emerging: Santos desperately seeks the help of the Venezuelan regime to complete his negotiations with the FARC, almost at any price it seems.  It also becomes awfully clear that the Colombian intelligentsia could not care less about the future of Venezuela, that it may even bet on its collapse to see what juicy morsel Colombia can pick for nearly free out of the debacle.

Or Venezuela and the FARC may prevail.

Crimes and mistakes. All.

11 comments:

  1. An alternative would be for Santos to offer the guy to create a linkage: Now he can claim FARC members in Venezuela, and if Maduro doesn´t act he will have the high moral ground to shred Maduro. The Venezuelan regime is tottering, the Cubans may give up on their colonial conquest if they realize the end game is too tough.

    The problem I see is the Obama administration´s weird behavior. They seem very focused on war mongering in the Ukraine, a fairly worthless spread for the USA which however is priceless for the Russians.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:09 AM

      Obama's attention on Ukraine/Russia and Middle East Terrorists is simple attention deflection. All the news is focused on these and not on issues within the USA as its getting too close to election time to have the focus on the USA's problems.
      Behind the scenes of the Venezuelan mess is simply a lot of people getting rich, whether you are a beneficiary of big oil with big oil prices or friends of the gov't. I am sure the Santos gov't got big financing from Venezuela rich as he has been nothing but a friend to them since the election.

      Canadian looking in

      Delete
  2. Boludo Tejano6:42 PM

    That is really sad. I would guess it is a case of commerce over human rights. Colombia has gotten hooked on exports to Venezuela- and getting paid for them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous8:05 PM

    Kudos for Colombia! Why to maintain a troublemaker in their country? They made a concession and the guy bite their hands, so it looks fair to send him back and avoid more costs for Colombian taxpayers. Additionally it will create an example for future misbehavior from some people that imagine his own cause is above all and do not respect others anyway.

    I do not see such elaborate conspiracy theory valid. I see the things much more simple and direct.

    On the other hand I really sorry for Venezuela, but unfortunately life is not so simple: the enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What a nice and sensitive comment. Makes me love Colombians even more.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:38 PM

      The Colombians are neutral to the situation. I see your point Daniel, but I can't say I agree with you. Colombia did the right thing. You know how ridiculous the regime is, I don't think Colombia is prepared to mess up their relations with a neighboring country which most likely would have happened if they hadn't released the student.

      This is like a drop in the puddle anyways. There are a lot bigger problems brewing.

      Delete
    3. Columbia is anything but neutral. Have fun with Santos and we will see what the future holds for Columbia. Those who play with the Castros don't usually hair that well.

      Delete
  4. http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/09/06/4332141/andres-oppenheimer-obamas-plan.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous2:01 PM

    Santos is a pawn of Fidel Castro. That's all you need to know to understand the situation.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Santos sirve a Fidel.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Muchas barreras para comentarios....Permisologia a lo venezolano?

    ReplyDelete

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