Venezuela “Expert” Appointed as the Next Ambassador to Colombia
In a move seen as a confirmation that Washington is awakening to the threat posed by the Chavez regime in Venezuela, US president Barack Obama recently nominated Peter Michael McKinley as ambassador to Colombia. McKinley, currently ambassador to Peru, was born in Venezuela, and is said to be an expert on matters regarding Colombia’s troublesome neighbor. His resume includes a book he wrote on the colonial history of Venezuela.
McKinley will replace outgoing ambassador William Brownfield, who is extremely well known and liked in Colombia. McKinley will assume office when Colombia’s new president will be known, which according to current opinion polls may well be the Green party’s Antanas Mockus, a center-left candidate. Mockus has publicly expressed admiration for Venezuela’s dictator, Hugo Chavez, later attempting to mitigate what he had said. Chavez has for several years taken a hard line against Colombia, disrupting virtually all trade between the countries, and recently meddled in the electoral process, claiming that there would be war if Mockus’ main rival, Juan Manuel Santos, was elected. Polls began to favor Mockus immediately after Chavez’ statement.
McKinley will take his post at a time of turmoil, with increasing worries about what Chavez’ next move will be, and an uncertain future political direction in Colombia, the Unied States’ most important South American ally. Venezuela’s military build-up and alliances with Russia and Iran, as well as the spread of his leftist anti-American Bolivarian revolution in Latin America are high on Washington’s list of worries.
Patrick Duddy is the current US ambassador to Venezuela. He was expelled by the Chavez regime in September of 2008 on accusations of planning a coup against the Venezuelan leader. Diplomatic relations with Venezuela were not restored until eight months later, in July of 2009, under the Obama administration, when Duddy was returned to his former post after intense negotiations. In view of the precarious position of the mission in Caracas, having a Venezuela-literate representative in Bogota becomes critical.
Colombian Peso Exchange Rate
Mockus is Chavez’s candidate. Chavez has people sending thousands of emails daily to the media demonizing Uribe and Santos and promoting Muckus. He also runs bogus polls reporting inflated pro-Muckus preferences. Chavez is investing millions stolen from Venezuelans to demonize Uribe and Santos and support his candidate, Mockus.
Colombians are being manipulated, just like Bolivians and Ecuadorians were manipulated, to vote for a minion of Chavez. We hope Colombians are smart enough and learn from the tragedy of their neighbors in the hands of Castro-Chavez.
As Chavez’s candidate, Mockus the LAST thing Colombians need to achieve prosperity AND security. Venezuelan Peña Esclusa is warning Colombians not to vote for Mockus, not to make the same disastrous mistake they made: http://www.unoamerica.org/unoPAG/noticia.php?id=904