Bush regime targets Cuba over Colombia and Venezuela
Campaign News | Saturday, 9 October 2004
State department accuses Cuba of meddling in Latin America
WASHINGTON - The Bush regime is accusing Cuba of training Colombian rebels and says it is 'troubled' by the large presence of Cuban personnel in Venezuela, whose president, Hugo Chavez, is a close ally of Cuban President Fidel Castro.
The Bush regime's view was outlined in response to a press question on Friday 8 October about Secretary of State Colin Powell's comments in an interview that Castro is "causing his own people to suffer greatly" and has become a "troublemaker" in neighboring South American countries.
Elaborating on Powell's remarks, a State Department official said in an authorized comment that the United States continues to be "concerned by Cuba's support for terrorist organizations in Colombia".
It said the two largest leftist guerrilla organizations there, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the National Liberation Army, continue to maintain a presence and receive training in Cuba. Both are on the State Department's list of international terrorist organizations.
The official, who could not be identified under State Department ground rules, said in the written response that the United States worries that the large Cuban presence in Venezuela might "harm Venezuela's democratic system."
In solidarity with Chavez's Venezuelan government, Cuba has sent thousands of health care workers, teachers and sports trainers to poor neighborhoods in the country.
The populist Chavez is widely popular among poor Venezuelans, who consider his self-proclaimed revolution a means for them to get better health care, education and greater access to the country's vast oil wealth.
The latest comments by the Bush regime are certain to raise the suspicion once again that in a second term, it will act in some way against Cuba and Venezuela.
While the US ploughs milions of dolars each year into bolstering the Colombian government, it does nothing to prevent the horrendous abuses of human rights by the police, right-wing paramilitaries and the army who have been responsible for the murder of thousands of leftist and democratic activists over the past twelve years.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/politics/9878755.htm?1c
