Chávez: US Military Aggression Against Venezuela Escalating

[G_j]

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/5018

US Military Aggression Against Venezuela Escalating


December 20th 2009, by Eva Golinger - Postcards from the Revolution
Caracas, 20 December – Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez revealed today on his Sunday television and radio program, Aló Presidente, that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, have illegally entered Venezuela’s airspace during the past several days. “A few days ago, one of these military planes penetrated Venezuela as far as Fort Mara,” a Venezuelan military fort in the State of Zulia, bordering Colombia. The drone was seen by several Venezuelan soldiers who immediately reported the aerial violation to their superiors. President Chávez gave the order today to shoot down any drones detected in Venezuelan territory. Chávez also directly implicated Washington in this latest threat against regional stability by confirming that the drones were of US origen.

On Thursday, President Chávez denounced military threats against Venezuela originating from the Dutch islands Aruba and Curazao, situated less than 50 miles off Venezuela’s northwest coast. Both small islands host US air force bases as a result of a 1999 contract between Washington and Holland establishing US Forward Operating Locations (FOLs) in the Caribbean colonies. Originally, the contract stipulated US military presence in Aruba and Curazao soley for counternarcotics missions. However, since September 2001, Washington uses all its military installations to combat perceived terrorist threats around the world. The military bases in Aruba and Curazao have been used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaisance missions against Venezuela during the past several years.

In 2006, Washington began conducting a series of high level military exercises using Curazao as the principal zone of operations. Hundreds of US aircraft carriers, warships, combat planes, Black Hawk helicopters, nuclear submarines and thousands of US military troops have been engaging in different military exercises and missions in the Caribbean region during the past three and a half years, causing substantial alarm and concern to nations in the region, particularly Venezuela, which has also been subject to hostile and agressive diplomatic actions from Washington.

In 2008, the Pentagon reactivated the Navy’s Fourth Fleet, charged with defending US interests in the Latin American region. The Fourth Fleet was deactivated in 1950, after accomplishing its original defense mission during World War II. The fleet’s reactivation nearly 60 years later was perceived by a majority of nations in Latin America as a direct threat to regional sovereignty and provoked South American countries to establish a Defense Council to deal with external threats. The Pentagon responded by proudly admitting the Fourth Fleet’s reactivation was a “showing of US force and power in the region” and a demonstration that the US “will defend its regional allies”. This was perceived as direct support to Colombia, and an attempt to intimidate Venezuela.

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[Selatius]

1. It's idiotic on America's part to reactivate the fleet if it wants to show goodwill to its neighbors

The last time I checked, the Fourth Fleet was around when fucking Hitler was tearing across the face of the earth trying to take everything. Hugo Chavez is a lot of things to a lot of people, but he's not a war criminal mass murderer like Hitler was. What, did somebody see fucking Osama bin Laden on a tour of Latin America?

[G_j]

3. Navy Reestablishes U.S. 4th Fleet

http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=36606

Release Date: 4/24/2008 3:32:00 PM

Navy Reestablishes U.S. 4th Fleet

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alan Gragg, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command Public Affairs

MAYPORT, Fla. (NNS) -- Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Gary Roughead announced today the reestablishment of U.S. 4th Fleet and assigned Rear Adm. Joseph D. Kernan, currently serving as Commander, Naval Special Warfare Command, as its first commander.

U.S. 4th Fleet will be responsible for U.S. Navy ships, aircraft and submarines operating in the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) area of focus, which encompasses the Caribbean, and Central and South America and the surrounding waters.

Located in Mayport, Fla., and dual-hatted with Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command (COMUSNAVSO), U.S. 4th Fleet reestablishment addresses the increased role of maritime forces in the SOUTHCOM area of focus, and demonstrates U.S. commitment to regional partners.

"Reconstituting the Fourth Fleet recognizes the immense importance of maritime security in the southern part of the Western Hemisphere, and sends a strong signal to all the civil and military maritime services in Central and Latin America," said Roughead. "Aligning the Fourth Fleet along with our other numbered fleets and providing the capabilities and personnel are a logical execution of our new Maritime Strategy."

U.S. 4th Fleet was original established in 1943 as one of the original numbered fleets, and was given a specific mission. During World War II, the U.S. needed a command in charge of protecting against raiders, blockade runners and enemy submarines in the South Atlantic. U.S. 4th Fleet was disestablished in 1950 when U.S. 2nd Fleet took over its responsibilities.

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[ProgressiveProfessor]

4. The change was amdinistrative only.

No new ships are being built to staff it, in fact the USN is losing ships due to age every year that are not being replaced. Anything being done by the 4th fleet would have happened anyway with a different administrative command structure.

[G_j]

5. not sure I understand

it's a fleet with no ships?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

6. Not quite

The ships were already assigned to SOUTHCOM missions, but were "owned" by a different fleet (2nd Fleet). What the USN did was to reconstitute the 4th fleet, and transfer "ownership" of the ships already in SOUTHCOM to it. It was quite literally an administrative alignment/change with no practical impact as to missions and tasking. The SOUTHCOM/4th fleet alignment now mirrors the other regions of the world.

Some people are seeing all sorts of nefarious things behind the 4th fleet, but given US C&C structures, it makes no real difference.

[Azathoth]

2. Isn't Eva Golinger the nutjob who attacked Michael Moore for daring to speak ill of King Hugo?

Yawn. The only things escalating are Hugo's "Yank scares", which are becoming eerily reminiscent of Dubya's "terror alerts."

[EFerrari]

7. Then every major leader in LatAm is in on his "scares" because they agree with him.

And, fyi, Eva is the attorney that tracked your tax dollars via USAID to the 2002 coup and other actions since. So, yeah, she's a real "nutjob". She knows how to use FOIA to find out the inconvenient facts.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

9. Which leaders are not lock step with Chavez?

[Mudoria]

8. Ah, good old Venezuela Analysis..

from the mouth of Hugo straight to the web.