Real or imagined guerilla activity near the Venezuelan border also serves as a justification for the Colombian government to continue to act as a U.S. proxy in "containing" Venezuela.  Last year the Colombian government attempted to obtain tanks from the Spanish government to counter the "Venezuelan threat" -- the deal was cancelled following the Spanish elections.  In November rumors began to surface that Colombia was in the market for combat aircraft for potential use in incursions into Venezuela.

I believe that the destabilization of the Venezuelan government is the real purpose of the current U.S. Special Forces mission in Arauca.  In August of 2003, I wrote in Milenio that:

"In the past year there have been 485 political killings in Arauca.  Many have been killed by the AUC, often in collaboration with the military and the police.  Others have been killed by the Marxist guerillas of the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and the ELN (Army of National Liberation) who have stepped up their attacks in the region in response to the U.S. military presence.  One exasperated U.S. Embassy official recently admitted that 'Arauca is a mess.'

"None of this has prevented the U.S. State Department and the Pentagon from certifying that the 18th Brigade had no record of human rights abuses and no links to the AUC, and sending 70 U.S. soldiers to train members of the brigade in reconnaissance and unconventional warfare.  

"This is because the U.S. wants more Colombian oil.  In an interview with El Tiempo, Colombia’s largest newspaper, in February of 2002, U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson (who left her post this month,) said, 'After Sept. 11, the issue of oil security has become a priority for the United States … (as) the traditional oil sources for the United States (the Middle East) are less secure.'  Colombia has vast unexplored oil reserves, but multinational corporations are reluctant to invest in Colombia because of guerilla violence against foreign companies.  The Caño Limón-Coveñas pipeline was bombed by the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and the ELN (Army of National Liberation)  some 34 times last year, costing Occidental Petroleum $74 million.  The year before it was bombed 174 times.  Protecting the pipeline would show oil companies that the U.S. and Colombian militaries were ready to protect their interests.

"Occidental has a lot of poltical clout.  Between 1996 and 2002, the company spent over $9 million on lobbying Congress, and it donates heavily to both major U.S. political parties.

"But the pieces still don’t quite fit.  The 18th Brigade’s own commander admits that he would need to station a soldier every three feet along the pipeline in order to protect it – an impossible task.  Some speculate that Occidental Petroleum and the U.S. have their sights on a bigger source of oil: Venezuela.  Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in Latin America, but President Hugo Chavez has frustrated the U.S. by putting the interests of Venezuela’s poor ahead of those of the oil industry, and by surviving a U.S.-backed coup attempt. Arauca has served as a base for AUC incursions into Venezuela aimed at destablilizing Chavez’s government.  In March, the Venezuelan military engaged the AUC in battle.  For his part, Uribe has accused Chavez of backing the FARC, opening the door to “anti-terrorist” operations against Venezuela.

"The situation may soon get worse.  Uribe is threatening to replace several officers of the 18th Brigade – not for ignoring human rights abuses, but for failing to fight harder to protect the pipeline.  This sends the military the message that it must use any means necessary to protect the oil.  And on their recent visits, the U.S. Secretary of Defense and the top ranking officer in the U.S. military both pledged more military aid to Colombia and joined Uribe in suggesting that Chavez is backing the FARC."

In an April 2002 essay , Hector Mondragon, one of Colombia's most insightful social critics pointed out that the expanded authority the U.S. granted the Colombian military to use U.S. aid to fight terrorism also justified the use of U.S. aid against "other threats to Colombia's security," a phrase that Mondragon believed was a veiled reference to Venezuela.  (See also his March, 2003 essay "The South American Israel".

Keeping this in mind, its wise to retain a healthy degree of scepticism about reports of FARC attrocities near the Venezuelan border.