Beware! The fingers are on the triggers
By Jorge Gómez Barata
Failing to mention the impressive trade in guns that nurtures not only the Colombian guerrillas but also the paramilitaries, the drug traffickers and the gangs that operate throughout Latin America, and without alluding to the secret or fraudulent acquisitions of military supplies, often rerouted to irregular circuits, the Colombian government berates Venezuela after finding three rocket launchers presumably sold by a Swedish firm to the Venezuelan government 25 years ago, when Chávez was still a cadet.
In addition to providing a media distraction of public opinion to counteract the devastating effects for its political credibility entailed by the turnover of five military bases to the United States, the Colombian government has asked Venezuela for explanations.
The U.S. extreme right and the Latin American oligarchy would be delighted with an armed conflict in the region. Better yet, two. And best of all, three. If those clashes involved Colombia and Venezuela, that would be fantastic. And if Ecuador is drawn into them, the imperial orgasm would reach elephantine proportions.
If that effort is achieved, the American reaction would attain several objectives simultaneously: to hinder, derail, paralyze and, in the worst of cases, revert some processes of change in Latin America that have not matured enough to survive such tensions. Also, Obama would be presented with faits accomplis.
In the tense environment that exists on the Venezuelan and Ecuadorean borders with Colombia and the Honduran border with Nicaragua, elements of the Bush administration — with enough intelligence resources, hiding in the Special Services, the bureaucracy of the departments of Defense, State and Domestic Security, and in cahoots with the vernacular oligarchies — could plot a provocation.
Add to this the fact that the operations of the Colombian Army and the guerrillas create combats and bombings, arms traffic, people trafficking and other dangerous events that are propitious to cover up provocations. Do not overlook the fact that the frequent defections of guerrillas create additional premises: the recurring stories about abandoned laptop computers and backpacks, about combatants who write diaries, photograph each other, abuse their cell phones and e-mails, and do things that are not advisable.
The leftist governments are in no condition to relax their vigilance and trust blindly in their own people, among whom there may be informers and even traitors. While the armed forces of Venezuela, Ecuador and Nicaragua have evolved favorably and remain firm and disciplined in the performance of their duties, they should not lower their guard because of the weak elements that may be hiding in their ranks.
Provocation is in the air. To give peace a chance requires serenity, transparency, willingness to foster negotiation and dialogue, a capacity to mobilize public opinion and enlist honest allies or mediators. It also requires the humility to apologize when something goes wrong. Chávez and Uribe, whose differences and coincidences of style are well known, have gone through difficult tests and have shown the ability to overcome them. That ability is now expected from them.
In June 1948, in the initial days of the Cold War, all types of transit between West Berlin and West Germany were forbidden. To deal with the blockade, the Americans and the Brits resorted to an aerial bridge that — flying along narrow air corridors, over Soviet guns — transported more than 2 million tons of supplies of every kind in almost 300,000 flights, for 320 days.
Stalin and Truman, who weren’t doves or were bound by alliances or familiarity, were consistent nevertheless. Something similar occurred in 1962, when, during the Missile Crisis, U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Cuban leader Fidel Castro, two young statesmen, rose above the deafening noise of guns, allowed a sense of historic responsibility to prevail, and at the end emerged the winners. Instead of pulling the triggers, they gave peace a chance.
“The only wars won are the wars avoided.”
Jorge Gómez Barata is a Cuban journalist who lives in Havana.
