VENZUELA: COUP

ZMAG: The Final Answer Will Be Given by the Tanks by Justin Podur
Colombia's new border brigade and the Venezuelan referendum

few months ago, the commander of the Venezuelan Army, Raul Baduel, described something that worried him (1). Colombia had just purchased 46 AMX-30 battle tanks from Spain. The media claimed the tanks were to fight drug trafficking, but that hardly seemed plausible. Baduel suspected that the tanks were going to end up on the Venezuelan border.

This deployment was blandly reported in El Tiempo, Colombia's national newspaper, yesterday (2). The 46 tanks will be part of a new Brigade, especially created, to 'patrol the border'. Four battalions and a Special Forces group form this new Brigade. The tanks are supposed to arrive in (and watch the timing carefully, for we will revisit it) August....

....In August, Venezuelans are supposed to vote again to determine their future. There are many who think that the Venezuelan majority has spoken loudly and clearly already, and that this referendum is a sham. Sham or no, Chavez could easily win a fair referendum. The real danger is that if Uribe and the United States have their way, "The final answer" may be "given by the tanks."

"CHECK IT"