En Espańol

Visiting Fellow  Roger F. Noriega

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.

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.

Since Reyes' killing in March, three other senior commanders of the FARC have been killed by their own men, surrendered, or died of natural causes. Despite Chávez's angry demands, neither the United States nor the European Union removed the Colombian guerrillas from their list of groups supporting terrorism. Despite his angry denials, a senior commission of the respected organization, Interpol, has authenticated the Reyes documents that implicate Chávez in supporting the FARC terrorists.

In June, the United States government formally sanctioned a senior Venezuelan diplomat for supporting the terrorist group, Hezbollah. It is very clear that U.S. authorities are carefully reviewing the close cooperation between the Chávez camp and the FARC, and senior Venezuelan officials may face U.S. sanctions for their complicity.

The spectacular liberation of three American contractors, Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, and 11 other hostages from their FARC captors was a major blow to Chávez's international Bolivarian campaign.

Even before the Betancourt rescue, Chávez issued a humiliating repudiation of the FARC, calling upon the group to release its hostages and lay down its arms--unconditionally. "At this moment in Latin America, an armed guerrilla movement is out of place," Chávez counseled.

And, he has been forced to sue for peace with Uribe, and the two leaders are expected to meet very soon to restore "normal" relations.

His acolytes in Bolivia and Ecuador are losing legitimacy with each passing day, as their sponsor in Caracas licks his wounds. Back home Chávez has had to resort to technicalities to prevent popular opposition figures from competing in upcoming regional and local elections. Even though he has used the police powers of the state to impose his absolute control over the courts, national assembly, and electoral commission, food shortages, rampant crime, and staggering corruption have left him increasingly unpopular. Chávez's supporters in the military and within his own Bolivarian movement are left to wonder whether his reckless, immoral support for terrorists will lead to their indictment by the United States or lead them into another war they cannot win.

In short, the man who pretended to be the representative of the eternal Simon Bolivar appears to be running out of time.

Roger F. Noriega is a visiting fellow at AEI. His law and advocacy firm, Tew Cardenas, LLP, represents U.S. and foreign governments and companies.