A senior Venezuelan lawmaker says a U.S. plan to bulk up its military
presence in Colombia – ostensibly to fight drug trafficking – is
actually aimed at inching the U.S. closer to Venezuela’s mighty oil
reserves.
Angel Rodriguez, head of the congressional energy commission,
likened the situation to the U.S. “empire’s” decision to invade Iraq on
the argument Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
“After it was revealed that there weren’t these types of weapons,
it became clear…the objective was to control the crude oil market,”
Rodriguez said Thursday in a press release. He added: “Nothing’s going
to keep the U.S. government from using its military troops and
equipment in Colombia for operations across the border.”
Venezuela is the fourth-largest supplier of oil to the U.S. and has
99 billion barrels of proven reserves of crude. It shares a nearly
1,400-mile border with Colombia.
Earlier in the week, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez also slammed
the plan and said he would be reviewing his country’s relationship with
Colombia. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe that the U.S. would be
allowed “use of and limited access to Colombian military bases.” (Dow Jones)