Chavez's Sudden Interest in Combatting Drug Trafficking

By Douglas Farah

The Washington Post today brings word of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez's suddenly intensified efforts to crack down on the booming drug trade through his country.

Elite troops have been dispatched primarily to blow up rudimentary airstrips near the Colombian border. New Russian-made attack helicopters are supposed to give added fire power to the forces of law and order.

The pictures and the story look good, but one wonders why, after years of indifference (at best) toward the drug traffickers using Venezuela as a favorite route, Chavez has chosen to react now.

And there is a more important question: why take measures that will do little to combat the real flow of drugs through Venezuela?

The answers to both lie in the documents recovered from the camp of FARC commander Raul Reyes, who was killed by Colombian troops in Ecuador last month.

The papers made clear Chavez's strong personal relationship with the leaders of the FARC, as well as the willingness to do drug business with the designated terrorist entity. They clearly demonstrate, too, that the FARC does a wide array of cocaine-based business, something they have long and misleadingly denied.

Despite his protestations of innocence and outrage following the release of the documents, Chavez has been faced with a severe public relations problem as a result of the disclosures. The documents leave so little to the imagination, and are authentic in their tone and content that denial has been, ultimately, futile.

So what is the next best thing, faced with the truth? Create an alternate narrative. My full blog is here.

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