카라카스, 베네수엘라 (AP) - 우고 차베스 베네수엘라 대통령은 1일 자신과 가까운 정치적 지지자들 가운데 몇 명이 과거 콜롬비아 반군과 협력했었다고 밝히고 그러한 이유로 미국이 베네수엘라를 공격할 정당한 핑계 거리를 만들어 주게 될 것이라고 경고했다고 말했다.
차베스는 베네수엘라 급진파 지지자에게 콜롬비아와 미국이 테러리스트로 간주하는 콜롬비아 반군과 더 이상 협조하지 말 것을 당부했다고 밝혔다.
차베스는 카라카스에서 열린 노동절행사에서 “콜롬비아 반군이 한때 우리가 모르는 사이에 베네수엘라에 자신들의 거점을 만들려고 했다” “콜롬비아 반군의 행동은 제국주의자들에게 베네수엘라를 공격할 완벽한 변명거리를 만들어 준다는 것을 모르고 있다” 고 말했다.
알바로 우리베 전 콜롬비아 대통령은 베네수엘라가 콜롬비아 혁명 무장 군(FARC)에 은신처를 제공하고 있다면서 자국의 대사를 소환하는 외교적 마찰을 빚었었다. 베네수엘라와 콜롬비아는 주민들의 왕래가 빈번한 긴 국경을 서로 맞대고 있다.
우리베 전 대통령은 콜롬비아 반군이 베네수엘라로부터 무기를 들여오려는 증거를 제시하였으나 차베스는 콜롬비아 무장혁명군을 지지하지 않는다고 부인했었다.
베네수엘라의 야당 정치인 구스타보 아조카르는 콜롬비아 반군을 지원하는 행위를 금지시키고 처벌했어야 한다고 비난하고 “대통령이 콜롬비아 반군을 지원하는 행위를 인정한다면 대통령도 동조자이다.” 고 차베스의 연설에 대해 전화 인터뷰에서 밝혔다.
후안 마누엘 산토스 콜롬비아 대통령이 실용적인 정책을 채택하면서 콜롬비아와 베네수엘라 의 관계는 현재 크게 개선되었다.
(영문기사 원문)
Chavez says allies met with Colombian rebels
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez revealed for the first time on Sunday that some of his political allies have collaborated with Colombia's guerrillas in the past but he said he warned them to stop because it could give Washington an excuse to attack Venezuela.
Chavez said he contacted radical government supporters who had met with the leftist rebels, presumably to tell them to stop collaborating with groups that Colombia and U.S. officials consider terrorist.
The Venezuelan president didn't say exactly who was supporting the rebels.
"On one occasion they were meeting with Colombian guerrillas, and they were making plans to set up some bases for Colombian rebels in Venezuela behind all of our backs," Chavez said during a May Day speech to supporters in Caracas. "They don't realize it's the perfect excuse for imperialism to attack the people of Venezuela."
Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe set off a diplomatic clash with Chavez that led to the withdrawing of ambassadors when he accused Venezuela of harboring Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, bases inside its territory. The South American neighbors share a long, porous border.
Uribe repeatedly accused Chavez of supporting the FARC after Colombian officials later leaked electronic documents they said were found on the computer of a FARC commander killed in a raid.
In the documents, rebel commanders discussed obtaining bazookas and other weapons from Venezuelan officials, including then-military intelligence chief Hugo Carvajal.
Chavez at the time denied supporting the FARC and suggested the documents were fabrications. In Sunday's comments he said the contacts with Colombia's rebels were behind his back.
Chavez's opponents on Sunday said the president should have taken action when he discovered what his allies appeared to be doing.
Opposition politician Gustavo Azocar said Chavez should have ordered the arrest of any government allies who backed Colombia's rebels.
"If the president is admitting that some of his collaborators have contacted Colombian guerrillas and he didn't do anything about it, then he's an accomplice," Azocar said in a telephone interview following Chavez's speech.
Relations between Bogota and Caracas have greatly improved since Uribe left office and was replaced by the more pragmatic President Juan Manuel Santos.
Chavez also suggested that officials in Sweden and Germany could have been attempting to lay a trap for him by allowing a man suspected of being a European operative of the FARC to travel to Venezuela.
Chavez said authorities in those countries should have detained Joaquin Perez, who was deported to Colombia following his capture at Venezuela's main airport last week. An international order for Perez's arrest had been issued before he traveled to Venezuela.
"They planted him here to give us a hot potato," Chavez said.
Swedish and German officials haven't responded to Chavez's statements.
Several dozen demonstrators, including members of the leftist Bolivarian Continental Movement, protested outside the Foreign Ministry on Thursday and burned an effigy bearing photos of Chavez's foreign minister and information minister, accusing them of betraying Chavez's anti-imperialist ideals by deporting Perez.
Perez's deportation was the latest sign of a thaw in relations between U.S.-allied Colombia and Chavez's leftist government.
Santos said he personally called Chavez a week ago to inform him of Perez's pending arrival on a flight from Germany and to request his arrest. Perez was deported to Colombia two days later.
Colombian and Swedish officials say Perez is a Swedish citizen who renounced his Colombian citizenship years ago. Sweden officials have asked their Venezuelan counterparts to explain why they weren't informed before Perez was deported.
Perez ran a Swedish-based website that serves as the leftist rebels' news agency and regularly carries FARC statements. However, Perez has denied belonging to the guerrilla group.
김희광 기자 april4241@naver.com
