======================================
Commentators connected this training
with preparations for a possible US
military intervention. The key to this
could be recent statements by the head
of the Miami-based Southern Command,
who rates Colombia as very dangerous
for US security, even more so than
Cuba, due to the guerrillas' headway
in their quest to seize power.
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EL NACIONAL (Venezuela)

Thursday, 30 April 1998

US military advisers training armed forces on Colombian border 
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MARACAIBO, Venezuela -- Zulia State Governor Francisco Arias Cardenas 
has said that the presence of US instructors on the Colombian border has to 
do with training and exchange programmes with the Venezuelan armed 
forces and in no way constitutes aggression or meddling in the internal 
affairs of the neighbouring country.

He claimed not to have details on this mission's agenda, neither does he 
know the precise location of the exercise camp. However, Zulia army 
sources confirmed on Sunday [26th April] that the group of instructors 
comprises nine soldiers, led by a captain, who have been stationed in 
Machique de Perija since 23rd April. They will stay in that zone for three 
months training rural National Guard commanders in actions against 
kidnappings, guerrillas and drug trafficking. 

In Bogota, radio networks, television stations and newspapers highlighted 
this news. Commentators connected this training with preparations for a 
possible US military intervention. The key to this could be recent 
statements by the head of the Miami-based Southern Command, who rates 
Colombia as very dangerous for US security, even more so than Cuba, due to 
the guerrillas' headway in their quest to seize power. 

Nevertheless, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Burelli Rivas, who 
was in the Colombian capital, responded to these rumours on Wednesday 
[29th April] by stressing the coordination between Colombian and 
Venezuelan armed forces, as well as the atmosphere of camaraderie and 
integration in the relations between the two countries. 

Asked about the possibility that Venezuela could be used as a base for an 
intervention in the neighbouring country, Arias Cardenas said that "the 
position we have established and continue to maintain is the people's self-
determination and our respect for the sovereignty of nations. We neither 
agree with nor endorse the presence of a multilateral force to fight 
Colombians, much less with Venezuelan participation, going in for a joyride, 
getting involved in the internal affairs of another country." 

He warned that Colombia's situation must be resolved only by Colombians, 
and that if a force is to become involved in this conflict, it should perform 
the task of an overseer with personnel who will guarantee that the war will 
respect the Geneva Convention and other international treaties. It should 
never be a force that would side with one of the warring parties...