Finally somebody face up to Chavez

Colombia President's reaction to Chavez intervention in internal affaires.
(taken from El Tiempo newspaper)

"The truth, President Chavez, and the truth with witnesses, is that when there are no arguments and one appeals to insults, as you do, it affects not only international relations but, in this case, it hurts the dignity of the people of Venezuela whom you represent.

The truth, President Chavez is that we need a mediation against terrorism and not legitimizers of terrorism. Your words, your attitudes, give the impression that you are not interested in peace in Colombia, but instead that Colombia becomes a victim of a FARC's terrorist government. (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia).

The truth, President Chavez, the truth with witnesses, like ours, is that we need to be helped in overcoming this tragedy of terrorism, but not taking advantage of the need of an humanitarian agreement to invoke the aid to Colombia and come to Colombia just to intervene here, to foster an expansionist project.

The truth, President Chavez, is that if you are promoting an expansionist project on the continent, this project in Colombia has no place.

The truth, President Chavez, the truth with witnesses, is that you coannt start a fire in the continent as you do, speaking one day against Spain, beating Mexico one day, the following Peru, on the morning after Bolivia. It is not possible to mistreat the continent, setting it on fire as you do, speakinh of imperialism, when you, in your estimations, wants to set up an empire.

The truth, President Chavez, is that you cannot mistreat history, we can not tarnish the memory of the heroes defacing them in popular demagoguery in order to mislead people. General Santander gave us the example of strict law compliance.

The truth, President Chavez, is that you cannot evade the law as you do, trying to mistreat General Santander to replace the law by the personal whim.

The truth, President Chavez, the truth with witnesses, is that you cannot mislead the people by fouly interpretating the legacy of the Liberator Bolivar. The Liberator was integrationist but not expansionist. The Liberator gave independence to our nations, but did not bring a new era of subjugation.

The Liberator was not trying to remove the European domination of America, to impose, as you want to do, his own denomination based on the strength of his budget.

To the people of Venezuela and the people of Colombia, the truth, President Chavéz is that the people of Colombia has every right to defeat terrorism, has every right to accept mediation but no mediations seeking political prominence, the political domination of terrorism.

I am very concerned that you, pushed for election expectations, now try to appeal to the old trick of encouraging hatred in venezuela against Colombia and against the government of Colombia in order to collect a favorable election result.

The truth, President Chavez, is that the background of my government shows that in our difficult struggle against terrorism, we have been respectful of all governments and all countries in the world.

I appeal to the conscience thinking of the people of Venezuela to analyze this issue. (...) The contradiction is that when the Colombian government has faced the terrorists never, ever, has been disrespectful with the Venezuelan government or the people of Venezuela.

The truth, President Chavez, is that the communiqué issued yesterday is supported by our background, by our deeds which have witnesses.

The truth, President Chavez, is that at any given time new elements are known. Our consul in the United States, who accompanied Senator Cordoba to the meeting of one of the prisoners belonging to the FARC, who is in jail in the United States for drug trafficking , has informed us that Senator Cordoba spoke about politics with the prisoner of FARC. That's fine. (Also spoke of) the possibility of a new Constituent Assembly in Colombia, that's fine. All that is respectable even tough we do not agree with the idea, but the senator also spoke of the need for a transitional government in Colombia.

The truth, President Chavez, is that this gives us, the Colombians, the right to interpret that the mediation to which you were invited by Senator Piedad Cordoba, according to the attitudes of the Senator and according to these comments, (it seems) that she was more interested in make possible a government inluenced by terrorism in Colombia, that in helping us overcome the tragedy of the kidnapped and achieve peace.

From Calamar, this region of our country hit today by floods, I say to the world that we ask for and receive help, but we do not accept expansionist projects.

From Calamar, this region hit by the floods, I tell the world that there are constraints in poverty, but there is dignity also. The money is earned every day. Thus, in some nations more scarce than in others, but the dignity, the respect for the social being, the respect for individual liberties ... When you lose those values is difficult to reclaim them.

We will continue to make every effort to defeat terrorism, to retrieve our kidnapped citizens, but we do not let our tragedy to be abused in order to give terrorism the chance to say that its position is right. We do not allow the abuse of our tragedy to come to Colombia to incorporate a expansionist project that slowly will deny freedoms that this continent has managed to conquer with so many difficulties".