The End of the Bolivarian Age

March 1, 2008, may be remembered as the day when the sun began to set on the 'Bolivarian empire.' Early that morning, Colombian narcoterrorist leader Luis Edgar Devia alias 'Raul Reyes' was killed by rockets fired by Colombian armed forces into his guerrilla camp in neighboring Ecuador. The incident set off a firestorm that may yet consume the reckless and corrupt Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez. Months before, in January, Chávez's acolytes in Venezuela's National Assembly applauded thunderously when their maximum leader bestowed legitimate 'belligerent' status on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the smaller Army of National Liberation, and recognized them as part of his 'Bolivarian' movement. Chávez was so outraged that the Colombian government would kill his terrorist chum that he hurled himself and his country into a war they couldn't win. He ordered his military to deploy tanks to close the border, choking off vital two-way trade with Colombia. Lieutenant Colonel Chávez may be the only military leader in history to attack his own supply lines. It is very clear that U.S. authorities are carefully reviewing the close cooperation between the Chávez camp and the FARC. Chávez reversed himself within days, as Colombian authorities began to release the first of thousands of damning computer documents that implicate Chávez, officials of the Ecuadorean government, and others in supporting the FARC. His internal opposition, the Patriotic Front, led by respected democrat Oswaldo Alvarez Paz has denounced Chávez's alliance with the FARC as treason against Venezuela.