Venezuelan de facto dictator, Hugo Chavez, said Monday it will investigate to find out if anti-tank rocket launchers sold to the Venezuelan military during the 1980s ended up in the hands of Colombia’s largest rebel group.
It was said that authorities had launched “an internal investigation … to determine the origin and destination of these weapons,” referring to Swedish-made AT-4 launchers that Colombia recovered in a cache belonging to FARC guerrillas. Colombian president, Alvaro Uribe, has long complained that Venezuelan weapons were being acquired by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Chavez recalled his ambassador to Colombia and threatened to sever diplomatic ties completely, freeze commerce and expropriate Colombian-owned businesses if Uribe’s government leveled any more accusations against Venezuela.
The socialist leader has suggested the United States is using Colombia as part of a broader plan to portray him as a supporter of terrorist groups to provide justification for U.S. military intervention in Venezuela. Chavez is a virulent critic of U.S. influence in Latin America, and along with Fidel Castro, has put together an anti American alliance (ALBA) to challenge U.S. interests in Latin America.
Sweden has confirmed the bazooka-like weapons originally were sold to Venezuela’s military and demanded an explanation from the South American country’s top diplomat in Stockholm.
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