Young Republican Leader Stands With America’s Ally Colombia
** By abandoning our South American ally Colombia Democrats are empowering the narcotraffickers.
FARC narcoterrorists in Colombia. (Bismi)
On March 1, 2008, Colombian forces crossed the border and ambushed a group of FARC terrorists who had found a safe haven a mile inside Ecuador. FARC terrorist leader Raul Reyes was caught by surprise. Colombia had never crossed the border to attack FARC rebels. Ecuadorean leader Rafael Correa was not notified about the ambush as he could not be trusted. Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez reportedly made the call to Reyes to tip the Colombian forces on his location. During the successful attack (video HERE) Colombian forces captured two laptops belonging to the FARC terror leader. This is what the Colombians discovered on the computers:
— FARC connections with Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa
— Records of $300 million offerings from Hugo Chavez
— Thank you notes from Hugo Chavez dating back to 1992
— Uranium purchasing records
— Admit to killing the sister of former President Cesar Gaviria
— Admit to planting a 2003 car bomb killing 36 at a Bogota upper crust club
— Directions on how to make a Dirty Bomb
— Letter to Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi asking for cash to buy surface-to-air missiles
— Meetings with “gringos” about Barack Obama
— Information on Russian illegal arms dealer Viktor Bout who was later captured
— FARC funding Correa’s campaign
This was explosive information. Chavez and Correa were outraged that they were outed and threatened Colombia by moving troops to the border. Pro-American capitalist Alvaro Uribe met with the Leftist leaders in Santo Domingo and thankfully the rival nations pretended to make up… For now.
Colombia is a strong American ally in the War on Drugs. The country was promised a free trade agreement with the United States by President Bush. This agreement was blocked by the Democratic Congress because of pressure by international Leftists and labor groups. Democrats are punishing Colombia over some exaggerated charges. Democrats say they are upset with the killing of unionists. But under Uribe’s leadership the death of unionists has declined by 90%.
Speaker Pelosi snubbed President Uribe when he made a special visit to Washington. However, Pelosi did announce that she would be willing to meet with the Marxist Chavez. Democrats are on the side of narcotraffickers.
Since President Uribe took office murders are at ten to twenty year lows- So are kidnappings. Just this past year in Medellin murders were down 40%. It’s no wonder that Uribe enjoys an 80% approval rating at home.
But, Democrats refuse to support Colombia.
Democrats support the narcotraffickers instead.
The Leader Chief Deputy Republican Whip Eric Cantor (center) is featured on the cover of the October 1 issue of the Weekly Standard, under the headline “Young Guns of the House GOP” with Paul Ryan (right) and Kevin McCarthy.
Rep. Eric Cantor writes today at National Review Online in support of America’s great South American ally Colombia:
To hear Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama pander for votes in Ohio, one would think free trade is the scourge of America. Don’t buy it. In the years since 1993, when NAFTA first took effect, our economy has grown by over 54 percent, added over 25 million jobs and experienced historically low unemployment numbers hovering around 5 percent.
But the isolationist fervor on the Democratic campaign trail has further exhausted Congress’s willingness to approve pending free-trade deals with important allies such as Colombia. Our Latin American friends have long complained that we treat them like a forgotten backwater. We sit on our heels, however, at our own peril. Our reluctance to deepen our economic ties with Latin America leaves a vacuum to be exploited by our adversaries. Venezuelan socialist megalomaniac-in-chief Hugo Chavez is making this point abundantly clear.
As Colombia and Panama anxiously wait for Congress to decide on free-trade agreements they signed with President Bush, Chavez ramps up efforts to export his Bolivarian revolution across Latin America. His brashness unleashes a wave of fear in capitals from Brazil to Mexico. In the hearts and minds of ordinary people across the region, the choices are clear: A Chavez-style authoritarian government that stifles democracy and looks upon America with contempt; or a politically open, democratic government that works with America to build prosperity. There is no better way to reassure our allies and reaffirm our commitment to region than to forge free-trade pacts. The more exposure Latin American countries have to economic opportunity, prosperity, and peace, the less attractive they will find Chavez’s siren-song of freedom-free socialism.
Today in our hemisphere Colombia is ground zero in the struggle for democracy. President Alvaro Uribe, our reliable partner in the war on drugs, last week found himself in a rhetorical fistfight with Chavez that threatened to plunge the Andes into war. On March 1, Colombia launched a strike that killed 24 Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels encamped in Ecuador less than a mile from Colombia’s southwestern border. Among the dead was Raul Reyes, a high-level figure in the leftist group that uses the drug trade — yes, the same network we have spent billions to combat — to finance its brutal terrorist activities inside Colombia.
Chavez’s determination to undermine both Colombia and our war on drugs is why we cannot turn our backs on the pending trade deal with Colombia. While the agreement languishes in the halls of Congress, Chavez seizes the opportunity to expand his influence and provoke crises in the region. Venezuela’s windfall oil profits have fueled purchases of $3 billion in Russian arms, terrorists to
fight proxy wars and, here in America, Joe Kennedy. Some of these purchases of military hardware include helicopters, SU-30 Sukhoi fighter jets, and other weapons that are bankrupting the Venezuelan people but making Chavez a major threat to the stability of South America…
Read the whole thing.
This is a very important issue that the mainstream media refuses to discuss.
America cannot abandon its friend.
America cannot abandon the great nation of Colombia.
America cannot allow South American Marxists and narcotraffickers to dominate.
MORE… Colombian news reported this weekend that the FARC terrorists may have been in contact with US Democrats and wanted Bill Clinton to mediate talks.
Hat Tip Suzie
UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal wrote more on the Chavez Democrats on Monday.
