Terrorism experts have long lamented the support for terrorism provided by the Chavez regime in Venezuela and the lack of condemnation from the United States. Earlier this week a Spanish Judge accused Venezuela of actively supporting the Basque separatist group ETA. This is, of course, in addition to accusations of supporting FARC in Colombia, which was verified by Interpol, and support for Lebanon's Hezbollah. Furthermore, a Venezuela defector, who also happened to be Chavez's personal pilot, fingered Caracas for supporting al-Qaeda and the Taliban in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
The last few weeks have been a headache for Venezuelan strong man Hugo Chavez. Perhaps the most immediate challenge to his uncontested leadership in Caracas is not the political opposition, but rather the decaying of the national electrical infrastructure. This is not to say that everything until this point has been going smoothly for Chavez. On the contrary, inflation is rising, the national debt is out of control, and food is becoming increasingly scarce. In typical dictatorial fashion, Chavez has resorted to targeting his political opposition instead of focusing on the problems at hand.
Unfortunately for Chavez the opposition movement is once again gathering steam; albeit without a strong central leadership, but this could change. With the loss of power to much of the country the traditional center of support for Chavez, the poor, may turn on him and embrace the opposition. Currently, it appears as if Chavez understands this and has asked Cuba to complete its obligation to upgrade Venezuela's aging power grid. To facilitate this deal Cuba has sent Ramiro Valdes, one of the last remaining original members of Fidel Castro's initial push to topple the Batista government in Havana. According to Douglas Farah, a well known terrorism expert, Valdes is known for working with non-state actors and suppression of the political rivals.
The presence of Valdes in Caracas is an indicator that Chavez views his revolution as being in trouble and is seeking outside assistance. With persistent rumors of terrorist sponsorship, both past and present, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for Chavez to employ groups such as FARC for domestic strong arm tactics to help prop up his damaged regime. Chavez has survived these tests in the past, but whether he can continue to do so in the face of rising unpopularity remains to be seen.
Over the last year, U.S. led troops have been conducting operations against the Taliban in Helmand Province, and yet the largest battle in that area appears to be on the Horizon. The city of Marja, located to the east of Helmand's capital Lashkar Gah, is a Taliban stronghold and also happens to be the center of opium trafficking. If the ISAF is able to successfully eject the Taliban from the area it could have a significant impact on Taliban funding.
Thus far, U.S. and British Special Forces have entered the city and begun targeting insurgent and Taliban leadership. Because of the terrain surrounding the city it would be extremely difficult for ISAF troops to cordon off the city prior to an all out assault making the use of Special Forces in this capacity necessary. Making matters worse the terrain favors the defenders thus necessitating the use of irregular warfare to preempt the use of conventional forces. This coming week has the potential to open up some options for the ISAF in the impending negotiations with insurgents wishing to reconcile with the internationally recognized government in Kabul.
'Another 21st Century Disaster Tip You Won't Hear From Officials'
David Stephenson, a leading homeland security, e-governmentand and crisis management strategist, offers up out-of-the-box ideas for surviving a disaster.
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