Colombia Reports

A Colombian army radio signal is blocking Venezuela's national radio station, according to an announcement by the socialist country Thursday.

The Colombian military signal is "penetrating [Venezuelan] airspace at the border" and "permanently disturbing" transmissions of Radio Nacional, the Venezuelan Minister for Communication and Information Blanca Eekhout said at a press conference.

At the same press conference the Venezuelan official rejected claims that her country wanted to start a war against Colombia, Terra reported Thursday.

Relations between the two countries have been strained recently and deteriorated rapidly after Colombia anounced a new military pact with the United States, allowing the Americans to use military bases and civilian airports for antiterrorism and counternarcotics operations.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez views the military pact as part of a strategy to destabilize his country and undermine sovereignty in the region.

Chavez last weekend ordered his country's people and army to prepare for war with Colombia and announced he was sending 15,000 troops to the border.

The United States and Brazil on Tuesday called on the leaders of the two quarrelling nations to talk and find a diplomatic way out of the tense situation.

Chavez changed his tone Wednesday, claiming that his orders to prepare for war were misinterpreted.

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Comments (2)

Andrewmann552 said:

	... Of course Colombia is blocking the signal. They don't want a revolutionary message going out into the poor barrios, the ghettos, the villages of the displaced. If the Uribe regime is so sure about itself and has no fear of Chavez's message, why block the signal? It's like when the British arrested anyone carrying pamphlets from the French Revolution.
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November 13, 2009
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gringomedeliin said:

	... Well if the FARC and ELN were not getting safe haven in Venezula then a strong army signal near the border wouldn't have been needed to communicate with troops around the area. Venezuala has nobody but themsevles to blame for the problem .
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November 13, 2009
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