Col. Chavez: Send Money, Guns and Doctors

By Aaron Mannes

When the outgoing Southcom chief General Bantz Craddock called Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez, "bigger than a nuisance," he was vastly understating the problem. Chavez is a major overlooked danger on the international stage. He is by no means the most murderous figure on the world scene, nor does he have a nuke. But he does have the potential to turn back the clock for Latin America, with disastrous results both for the region and world.

Over the last few decades Latin America has made important strides in constructing democratic governments that promote liberty. The region is by no means done, much of this progress has been of the frustrating two steps forward, one step back variety - and the region remains impoverished. Nonetheless, it is difficult to ignore the predominance of democratic institutions throughout Latin America.

However, important social and economic faultlines still exist throughout Latin America and Chavez - with his oil wealth - is well positioned to exploit them and extend his own radicalism throughout the region.

Chavez's financial support has been key to supporting extremist allies from Argentina to Cuba and everywhere in between. Venezuela has received thousands of Cuban doctors, sports trainers, and other operatives. When Bolivia, under new President Evo Morales, allied with Venezuela and Cuba, Boliva too began receiving Cuban doctors. No doubt some of these programs do some good (they are also a safety valve for Castro - doctors use the trip to Venezuela or Bolivia to slip Castro's grasp.) However, it appears the Cuban agents are mostly organizing citizen militias that Chavez and Morales can rely on in a civil conflict.

But the biggest worry is the guns. Over the summer Hugo went on an arms buying spree in which he purchased high-performance jets and helicopters (not terribly useful for a nation with no real enemies) and 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles. Chavez also obtained a license so he could manufacture his own assault rifles. The first client for these weapons will probably be Chavez's own Bolivarian Circles (his citizen militia) and the second will be the FARC. But beyond that there are numerous latent, and not so latent, conflicts that could erupt throughout the region. In Peru, defeated Presidential candidate and Chavez ally Ollanta Humala, is founding a movement which is best described as Inco-fascist. A few months ago, Sao Paulo, Brazil was wracked with massive gang violence which left over two dozen dead. Highly organized and extremely violent Central American gangs operate across national borders and into the United States. The combination of financial support, technical know-how, and tens of thousands of easy to use, extremely deadly, assault weapons could turn these low-level conflicts into civil war and insurgency.

Chavez has, in General Craddock's words, been "exporting instability." If Chavez's vision prevails, decades of work could be undone and Latin America could again become the realm of dictatorships and strife.

It is worth noting that this sort of arms transfer is not new to Latin America. Former Peruvian intelligence chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison for selling 10,000 assault weapons to the FARC. (Although he was a "right-winger" because of his efforts against leftist Sendero Luminoso, Montesinos spent a year in hiding in Venezuela - under the protection of the leftwing Chavez.)

For more on Venezuela and Chavez visit my blog.

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