Go Ahead, Mr. Chavez, Make Our Day!

 Hugo Chavez, the Britney Spears of geopolitics, is at it again. To mask the increasingly desperate state of internal affairs, he fuels a rush of international media attention through a political stunt. Chavez threatens Colombia, a key US ally, with war. The world ignores that limp Venezuelan military does not have the capacity to attack Colombia in the first place, that Chavez furthermore has nothing to gain even if his defeat were not certain, and  rewards him with the shower of attention he so desperately craves.  Our Colombian friends should simply call his bluff. The President of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, a proven and effective leader, should ask Chavez to invade or shut up. This may appear to be a trite way to deal with the prospect of war, but Venezuela has already effectively declared war on Colombia by sending some $300 million in aid to the FARC terrorists. The FARC, fueled with drug money, has waged a ruthless guerilla war against their democratic countrymen for over four decades.  At least our Colombian allies will have the opportunity to punch Chavez in the mouth.The Colombian army, equipped largely by the US, is a well-oiled fighting force that has in recent years been inflicting severe setbacks on the well-funded and equipped FARC guerilla terrorists.  It would quickly make short work of Venezuela’s impotent ground forces. Venezuela’s air force is marginally more formidable, however, with barely two dozen modern attack aircraft in service (10 F-16’s and 14 Russian Sukhoi’s); its capacity to project power is nevertheless limited. Furthermore, a delivery of Stinger missiles would greatly increase Colombia’s ability to neutralize the threat.Mr. Chavez is causing real trouble by supporting of terrorists in Colombia.  His power is, however, magnified by global attention. Just as our fascination with the bizarre and surreal actually fueled the Britney Spears phenomenon, so too does international reaction to her political equivalent.  We do not reward a puppy for soiling the rug with a biscuit, so why reward Senior Chavez with the attention he’s seeking? In any event, a Venezuelan attack would be a strategic and tactical gift to Colombia and the United States. Chavez would be exposed as the threat to world peace. His military would be smashed if they actually succeeded in making it into Colombia. He would find himself a marginalized internationally and unpopular at home. Though quite a joker, Mr. Chavez is not stupid. His most recent publicity stunt is designed to divert the attention of Venezuelans from the fact Chavez’s communist policies have been wrecking their economy to the point where basic foodstuffs are in short supply. (One wonders when people will learn that communism doesn’t work.) Let’s not give him the attention Chavez lusts after. The United States should ignore him and not repeat the errors we made in turning Fidel Castro into a hero by dignifying him with our attention. He is, albeit a dangerous one, a Clown. Mongering a fundamentally flawed socioeconomic model, he will self-implode in his quest to be relevant. Colombia, our only real ally in the Latin America, deserves the full support of the United States. Happily, in this case, they are well-equipped to deal with the situation.