A Desperate Chavez Tells Colombia It's Over

Image by ¡Que comunismo! via Flickr

Known for his aggressive stances and incendiary speech over the past several years towards his country's neighbors, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took the final step on Thursday of severing all ties with Colombia. The two countries have had a history of tensions which ratcheted up this month. Apparently the last straw came at a meeting of the Organization of American States, when Colombia presented evidence showing that guerrillas were hiding within Venezuela's borders, including members of FARC. In retaliation, Chavez announced that he was closing the embassy in Bogota while at the same time admitting that Colombia was their "brother nation".

Colombia's ambassador to the OAS gave the poignant response that "Venezuela should break relations with the gangs that kidnap and kill and traffic drugs, and not with a legally constituted government."

This development comes on the heels of the seizure of 11 oil rigs owned by a U.S. firm earlier this month, a pattern that has repeated itself many times as Venezuela's government has taken control of infrastructure and business owned by foreign & private interests.

Some analyses see Chavez's actions as political ploys designed to deflect attention from domestic problems. And although he's known for making strange moves and even stranger declarations, they seem to be increasingly desperate.

Is the severing of ties between Venezuela and Colombia a worrying problem, or a just a political move that will soon be resolved?  Is time running out for Hugo Chavez, his charisma wearing thin as his country's internal problems mount? What does the future hold for South America's most visible, and arguably most powerful leader?