A Ring of Fire

It's been a year now, since June 28, 2009 and the facts still open heated debate. That day is a true landmark in Honduras's history, and its consequences will be lasting.

Among the many aspects of this subject, the role of the Venezuelan Government is highly controversial. Left-wingers and members of the Resistencia who happen to be friends of mine tend to minimize the role of Venezuela's President in the Honduran crisis. They do so either through sarcasm or denial.

Honduras will be difficult to understand if it's not seen in a global context.

Upon assuming power in Venezuela, her President began to systematically disband the political and legal structures that led him to the Presidency and has thus avoided the election of a successor.

Determined to transform his country into a regional power, he forwarded his true goal: to challenge the United States of America's hegemony in the Americas; to use Venezuela's oil as a weapon; and to establish a new empire, from the ruins of what was once the Great Colombia, allied with America's enemies to provide that kingdom an unprecedented political dimension.

To build this megalomania, Central America is a crucially important bridge, and Venezuela's elected dictator knows this well. This is why what happened last June in Honduras imperils all which he has so painstakingly built.

In the face of what happened in Honduras, the tyrant of Miraflores is ill-equiped to confront the challenge that Colombia poses in its determination to end the decades-long internal war against groups that find havens in Caracas, Quito and La Paz.

Moreover, due to Brasilia's clumsiness, the U.S. can now resume its determinant role in Central America and Honduras, while even being able to strenthen its presence in South America and is has announced it will station SEVEN THOUSAND TROOPS off the coasts of Costa Rica.

A ring of fire is being set to surround he who not even the King of Spain has been able to silence; this ring has been lit. It burns.

As a result of this, legal action has been initiated against the owner of Globovision and the chairman of Uno America. The Political Police, inconceivable in a Democracy, is active in Venezuela and the threat against the opposition is real; The despot means what he says.

We must prepare ourselves. In a globalized world, a fluttering butterfly may cause a tempest elsewhere, and in Venezuela another ring of fire is being set against the Opposition. The actions against Peña Esclusa and Zuloaga are not isolated events. The Dictator is scared and he is angry. Once he feels secure again internally, he will launch a new international offensive, adding unconventional elements to his diplomatic strategy. His long term political survival is at stake.

As for now, we citizens must demand from the Organization of American States to intervene in Venezuela regarding Peña Esclusa, Zuloaga and other opposition leaders. Write to the Secretary General of the OAS to demand intervention by the Interamerican Commission for Human Rights in Venezuela.

Lack of action will result in tomorrow's sorrow. José Miguel Insulza's e-mail address is: jinsulza@oas.org