Posted on 11/21/2001 2:56:57 AM PST by backhoe
Cuban President Fidel Castro (L), Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (C) and Colombian Andres Pastrana talk during the closing of the III summit of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) on Margarita Island, Venezuela, December 12, 2001. Caribbean leaders signed cooperation and trade agreements where Chavez carried his left-leaning agenda into the Caribbean Summit urging his Caribbean neighbors to shun a U.S.-backed hemispheric free trade zone. REUTERS/Jose Miguel Gomez
And further evidence linking the Provisional IRA to the narco-terrorist group in Colombia has been uncovered, according to a leading figure in the United States Congress.
The Congressman heading up Capitol Hill's proposed investigation into the role of the IRA in Colombia has also revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency is to be asked to give evidence about the Farc connection. Democrat William Delahunt has confirmed that his inquiry has unearthed new information about the IRA's presence in Colombia.
Delahunt is travelling to Colombia in March to meet government representatives.
Worked with President Clinton, and the British and Irish governments,
as well as parties in Northern Ireland, to restore the 1994 IRA cease-fire and
promote a political solution to the more than a quarter-century long sectarian conflict.
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I'm surprised Dodd and Kennedy are going along with Sinn Fein to kiss Castro's commie behind.
Sinn Fein leader risks furor with Cuba visit--[Exceprt] …The trip is planned to commemorate Cuban solidarity during the celebrated 1981 IRA hunger strike at the Maze prison. Ten strikers died in what became a major embarrassment for the British government over demands that IRA prisoners be given political status.
As well as meeting Castro, the Sinn Fein delegation will unveil a monument in memory of the hunger strikers.
Analysts say the visit is part of an attempt to improve Adams' international standing while peace talks drag on with the British government. The IRA has lately come under increased international pressure for dragging its feet over decommissioning its weapons, a key element of the peace process.
In October Adams made a similar visit to South Africa, where he met with former President Nelson Mandela. During that visit he also unveiled a sculpture on Robben Island to commemorate those who have died on hunger strikes in Northern Ireland and South Africa.
Analysts, however, say the merits of visiting Cuba are harder to see.
The trip will only serve to refocus debate over Sinn Fein's alleged involvement with left-wing Colombian guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, often known by its Spanish abbreviation, FARC. One of the three IRA suspects jailed in Colombia was Sinn Fein's unofficial representative in Havana, Niall Connolly.
Connolly and two others, Martin McCauley and James Monaghan, were accused of training FARC fighters in explosives and urban terrorism. Sinn Fein initially denied that Connolly belonged to the party. But Adams later confirmed that an internal investigation revealed Connolly had been working in Havana for a senior Sinn Fein executive, though without the party's formal approval.
Republican members of Congress are aghast over the political timing of the visit. This week, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said: "I've told Gerry for some time I think it's a mistake to go. It undercuts Sinn Fein's argument for human rights. Castro is a flagrant violator of human rights."
The House International Relations Committee is conducting an inquiry into links between FARC and the IRA with a view to holding hearings. The committee is looking into allegations that the IRA has had a four-year connection to the Colombian group, during which time some 30 high-ranking IRA members have visited Colombia. [End Excerpt] ----More at link.
What the Chicom have succeeded in doing under our noses is quite impressive. Not only have they gained effective control over OPEC, and at the same time, taken the northern end of South America and effectively put in their sphere of influence.
They have leverage in Panama, Colombia,(which has been effectively subdivided with an autonomous FARC region) Venezuela, the Bahamas, and Cuba. I predict their next Central American move will be into Belize.
The Chicom sun was definitely shining during the Clinton years and they have made lots of hay in our own back 40. Maybe the nuts over at DEBKA are right about the Chicom/Taliban Axis?
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