The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela doubts the bases the Netherlands puts at the disposal of the US are used in the fight against drugs
My Name
Ben Berkowitz, Reuters January 2, 2010, 5:14 am
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen
on Friday denied fresh accusations by the Venezuelan
government that the Netherlands is supporting U.S. spy
flights over Venezuelan territory.
Verhagen condemned the comments as "inaccurate, unjust and
really out of place" in a statement on Friday and said he
would summon Venezuela's ambassador again to explain the
remarks.
Twice in the past two weeks, the government of President
Hugo Chavez has publicly claimed that the Dutch have let the
U.S. military launch spy flights from bases on the
territories of Aruba and Curacao under the guise of drug
surveillance missions.
On December 17 Chavez said the Netherlands was planning
"aggression" against Venezuela in concert with the United
States, and on Thursday his government again charged the
Dutch with "complicity" in such plans.
Verhagen said the Netherlands had made clear to the
Venezuelan government that the civilian airports in the
Dutch islands have been made available to the United States
solely for unarmed drug surveillance missions.
The United States has for years had a military presence on
Curacao and Aruba, with about 250 Air Force crew and ground
staff involved in counter-narcotics and surveillance
operations over the Caribbean region.
In its statement on Thursday, the Venezuelan government
questioned whether that was their true purpose.
"The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela doubts the
installations that the Netherlands government has put at the
disposition of U.S. military contingents are used in the
fight against drugs," it said.
The Foreign Ministry, which summoned the Venezuelan
ambassador last month, said on Friday it wanted to see the
ambassador again "quickly" to clarify the new comments.
The alleged threat of U.S. intervention in the oil-producing
South American nation has become a central element of
Chavez's discourse and a rallying cry for his supporters.
While he is Latin America's loudest U.S. critic, foes say
Chavez is hyping the idea of a foreign threat to distract
Venezuelans from pressing domestic problems such as economic
recession, rampant crime and inadequate public services.
(Additional reporting by Andrew Cawthorne in Caracas)
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/6637276/dutch-again-summon-venezuela-ambassador-on-comments/
Venezuela warns US about airspace violations
Thu, 31 Dec 2009 23:27:05 GMT
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
http://www.presstv.ir/photo/20100101/ghahri20100101021404250.jpg
The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry has warned the US military
against violating its airspace from bases in Aruba and
Curacao.
"(Venezuela) again calls on the international community to
denounce the US use of the colonies of Aruba and Curacao,
for the preparation of military aggression against
Venezuela," the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said in a
statement issued on Thursday.
"The subsequent violation of Venezuelan airspace on the part
of the US military aircraft ... allows us to conclude that
the warmongering US government, in league with the
government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, is preparing
an aggression against the territory and people of the
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela."
The statement did not provide details of the alleged
incursions.
Earlier this month, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez charged
that the US military was using the Dutch islands off his
country's Caribbean coast as a staging area for a possible
attack.
He also accused the United States of launching a spy plane
from Colombia that he said violated his country's airspace,
and vowed to order the Venezuelan military to shoot down any
spy aircraft that enter the country's airspace in the
future.
Last summer, Washington and Bogota struck a deal allowing US
forces to use Colombian military bases.
Caracas suspended diplomatic relations with Colombia in July
in response to the US-Colombia military base deal,
denouncing it as a military threat to the sovereignty of
Latin American countries and saying it paved the way for a
possible attack against Venezuela.
SG/SS/HGL
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115075§ionid=351020704
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