No Carnival this week, but you may understand why I needed a weekend of tango after reading these headlines:
Brazilian police have seized weapons from the FARC destined to the Rio slums. (link in Portuguse)
As the educational budget in Venezuela is reduced, Chavez increases his budget by 638%.
We seldom hear about the Colombian ELN here in the US, but they are as bad as the FARC: Colombian football team ‘killed’
At least 10 bodies – believed to be those of a kidnapped Colombian football team – have been found across the border in Venezuela.
The bodies, with multiple gunshot wounds, were found in Tachira. One of the team is reported to have survived.
State authorities say they suspect a left-wing Colombian guerrilla group, the ELN, is to blame for the deaths.
The team, kidnapped two weeks ago, was known as Los Maniceros or Peanut Men, as they sold nuts along the border.
…
The most senior official in Tachira state, Leomagno Flores, blamed the violence on the armed wing of the ELN, a group led by a man known El Payaso or the Clown.
Venezuela had denied permission to land to a plane sent to pick up the corpses but the Venezuelans finally came around and are paying for shipping the bodies back to Colombia. The governor of the state of Tachira asserts that the ELN has four guerrilla camps in Venezuela.
Right now I have a cold and will get some rest. Will deal with American politics later today.
And
Don’t know why the BBC had to say ‘killed’; clearly the people were murdered, so why the quotes??
The BBC is very lenient with the Colombian “insurgents”. Apparently they still think it is a romantic leftist guerilla. Still looking for a new Che I suppose…..