Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

July 29, 2014 By Fausta

El Pollo and Venezuela’s game of chicken: Venezuela exerted military pressure on Aruba

In today’s WSJ, Aruba: Venezuela Pressured It Militarily
The Netherlands’ release of a former top Venezuelan official wanted by the U.S. for alleged drug trafficking came after Venezuela raised economic and military pressure on two Dutch islands in the Caribbean, officials said.

Aruba’s chief prosecutor Peter Blanken said that Venezuelan navy ships neared Aruba and Curaçao over the weekend as Dutch officials were debating what to do with Hugo Carvajal —Venezuela’s former chief of military intelligence who was jailed in Aruba last week on a U.S. warrant.

“The threat was there,” Mr. Blanken said. “We don’t know what their intentions were, but I think a lot of people in Aruba were scared that something would happen.”

Holland is a member of NATO and as such Aruba would be protected, as WSJ commenter Donald Hutchinson points out, but, in the Obama administration’s era of “smart diplomacy”, the Dutch couldn’t count on that:

Assuming that US intelligence was not asleep, all,it would take would be a fly over by US Navy jets and a notification that any offensive action would be met by the immediate destruction of their ships. Holland is a member of NATO and such actioned would clearly be sanctioned,
It would also be a devastating set back to the former bus driver running Venezuela for bringing shame to their military.
But what one might expect from a timid White House and a preoccupied State Department?

Then there’s the oil,

Mr. Blanken said Venezuela’s government also had threatened to sever Venezuela’s vital commercial air links to Aruba and Curaçao. Venezuela’s state oil company also threatened to withdraw from a contract to manage Curaçao’s refinery, Mr. Blanken said, which would have put at risk some 8,000 jobs.

To put that number of jobs in perspective, Aruba’s total population is 103,009.

In the “no sh*t, Sherlock” file, the U.S. State Department spokeswoman’s reaction was, “This is not the way law enforcement matters should be handled.” At least they didn’t #hashtag it.

Hugo Carvajal a.k.a. “”el Pollo” is one of the guys who took part in Hugo Chávez’s unsuccessful 1992 military coup, later rising to the rank of general, but with a sideline,

Mr. Carvajal’s role as one of the Chávez government’s key liaisons to guerrillas from Colombia’s Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, emerged after computers belonging to a slain guerrilla leader were captured by Colombian security forces in 2008.

Here’s the indictment in the U.S. District Court accusing Carvajal of coordinating the transport of 5,600 kilos (6.17 tons) of cocaine from Venezuela to Mexico.

In addition to good’ol military thuggery, Miguel Octavio asserts that the Netherlands caved in (emphasis added):

Clearly, everyone applied pressure, but the weak link did not turn out to be Aruba as I suggested on my first post, but rather The Netherlands, as reportedly even Russia played a role, exchanging concessions on the Ucraine plane for helping release Carvajal. No matter what anyone says or how this is interpreted, it was a severe blow to the US, who would have loved to get Carvajal onshore.

One of my sources also mentions that team Obama had about 30 days to hand over its Extradition Request to Aruba but failed to; the Treasury Dept, the DEA and a U.S. District Court (mentioned above) had indicted him last year. It reminds me of drug kingpin Walid Makled, who was released to Venezuela by Santos of Colombia after the U.S. dragged its feet.

We’re in the best of hands.

PS,
While the Dutch allow Carvajal diplomatic immunity, the Egyptians search Secretary of State John Kerry, which was no biggie, but he fumes over Israel’s criticism.

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Filed Under: Aruba, cocaine, crime, drugs, Netherlands, Venezuela Tagged With: Fausta's blog, Hugo Carvajal a.k.a. ""el Pollo, NATO, smart diplomacy

August 3, 2011 By Fausta

Biggest ever cocaine cache in UK came from Venezuela

Britain’s biggest ever cocaine haul found
The largest shipment of cocaine ever seized in Britain has been uncovered in a yacht in Southampton docks, it was revealed today.

Officers believed that on the streets it would be cut with chemicals meaning it would become about 8 tonnes, enough to service one third of the entire UK cocaine market which is estimated at 25 tonnes per year.

The drugs seizure led to six members of an international crime gang being arrested in the Netherlands.

The load was discovered on a £1 million luxury yacht, the Louise. The yacht had been shipped to Southampton on a freight carrier from the British Virgin Islands in June and Dutch drug smugglers then planned to sail it to the Netherlands.

Dutch News has more (emphasis added)

The motor yacht Louise had been loaded onto a ship transporter bound for Holland while in the Caribbean, where it was already under surveillance. The transporter made a scheduled stop in Southampton where the yacht was searched by British and Dutch officials.

Seaworthy

After six days, they eventually found the drugs hidden beneath the bathing platform at the back of the boat. The yacht’s owner had tried to pick the boat up in Southampton but were delayed by British officials who said it was no longer seaworthy while the investigation continued.

The drugs, with a street value of €45m, were probably hidden on the yacht in Venezuala, the department said. According to British media reports, the drug was 90% pure and represents the largest find of a Class A drug ever made in the UK.

As reported by The Telegraph in 2008, Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela ’supplies half of Britain’s cocaine’
President Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela has become the key trafficking route for most of the cocaine sold on Britain’s streets, anti-drugs officials believe.

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Filed Under: cocaine, crime, Great Britain, Netherlands, Venezuela Tagged With: Fausta's blog

June 18, 2011 By Fausta

Fidel’s daughter favors “Dutch-style sex ed”

In a Communist country, with sex tourism, and where your children belong to the state, the dictator’s daughter talks about the latest plan (h/t Gates of Vienna),
Cuba embraces Dutch-style sex education
Cuba can learn a thing or two from Dutch-styled sex education. That’s the view of Mariele Castro Espín, daughter of Cuban President Raúl Castro, espoused in an interview with Radio Netherlands Worldwide.

Mariela Castro is director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education, a government-funded body, whose aim is the development of the development of a culture of sexuality that is “full, pleasurable and responsible, as well as to promote the full exercise of sexual rights.” She will travel to the Netherlands in the near future to for discussions with institutions and government bodies related to sex education.

Cuba is a top destination for sex tourism. Maybe Mariela will have the whorehouses display their goods on shop windows as they do in Amsterdam.

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Filed Under: Cuba, education, Netherlands, Sex., tourism, travel Tagged With: Fausta's blog

July 21, 2010 By Fausta

Is the Netherlands Subsidizing the Ground Zero Mosque?

Gates of Vienna translates an article from Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf on the Dutch government’s financing of the World Trade Center ground zero mosque to the tune of a million US dollars:

“Netherlands subsidizes Ground Zero mosque”
The Party for Freedom has filed parliamentary questions in response to an article on the Dutch website “text2|Dagelijkse Standaard}”in which it is reported[1] that the Netherlands co-finances the construction of a mosque a stone’s throw from Ground Zero in New York City with a million U.S. dollars of Dutch taxpayers’ money.

The website of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that a subsidy of $ 1,000,000 was awarded to the organization American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA). That organization is, in cooperation with the Islamic organization Cordoba Initiative, responsible for the hundred million U.S. dollar cost of the Islamic Center Mosque, which will be built near Ground Zero.

The PVV demands clarification[2] and calls the already-approved plans for the building of a mosque right next to Ground Zero absurd and an insult to the thousands of relatives of the victims who fell on September 11, 2001.

The party wants the subsidy to ASMA to be immediately withdrawn.

Go read the full post.

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Filed Under: Fausta's blog, Islam, Netherlands, terrorism Tagged With: Geert Wilders, Ground Zero mosque, World Trade Center mosque

February 9, 2010 By Fausta

Netherlands: Bomb found in train?

A bomb scare in the Netherlands,
Report: Attempted Terrorist Attack in The Netherlands – Bomb Found in Train

UPDATE (6:00 AM ET)
Dutch Omroep Brabant now reports that police say no bomb has been found. A man was arrested, but he it’s likely he’s an insane loser with too much time on his hands and not a terrorist. Good news, if true of course.

Having said that, I do hope that this man will suffer the consequences of pulling such a “prank.” The entire train station was evacuated, people couldn’t get to their work, all because of one attention craving idiot. End Update

In other news, Geert Wilders is on trial. Pat Condell comments,

Gates of Vienna and Diana West have more on Geert Wilders. Go read every word.

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Filed Under: Holland, Netherlands, terrorism Tagged With: Fausta's blog, Geert Wilders

January 3, 2010 By Fausta

Hugo Chávez: Now It’s Time to Annoy the Dutch

MaximeVerhagen.jpg
Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen

My latest post, Hugo Chávez: Now It’s Time to Annoy the Dutch, is up at Real Clear World.

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Filed Under: Aruba, Hugo Chavez, Netherlands, USA, Venezuela Tagged With: Curacao, Fausta's blog, Real Clear World, Real Clear World Blog

May 1, 2009 By Fausta

Today’s podcast: the Hezbollah-Lat Amer drug connection

In today’s podcast at 11AM, the Hezbollah-Latin American drugs connection.

Podcasts are archived for your listening convenience.

Related links
Curaçao: Hezbollah Connection in Drug Arrests
17 arrested in Curacao on suspicion of drug trafficking with links to Hezbollah

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Filed Under: Colombia, crime, Cuba, drugs, Netherlands, Venezuela Tagged With: Curacao, Fausta's blog, Netherlands Antilles

February 12, 2009 By Fausta

Geert Wilders returned to the Netherlands

BBC video

Geert Wilders was denied entry to the UK by the Home Office.

The Dutch ambassador was also at Heathrow to make clear his government’s opposition to the ban on Mr Wilders entering the UK.

The Home Office made a statement to the effect that (emphasis added)

The Home Office said there was a blanket ban on Mr Wilders entering the UK under EU laws enabling member states to exclude someone whose presence could threaten public security.

Is that so? The Daily Mail lists a few of the people the Home Office’s let in (scroll down to the end of the article).

Go to my prior post to view Fitna, the movie.

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Filed Under: EU, Fausta's blog, Netherlands, UK Tagged With: Geert Wilders

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