Tensions have been escalating in the last few weeks between Colombia and Venezuela, two neighboring countries which already have strained relations. In mid-October, 8 Colombians were kidnapped and murdered execution-style after playing an amateur football match across the border in Venezuela. In addition, the bodies of 1 Peruvian and 1 Venezuelan were also found in the Western Venezuelan state of Táchira. No one has been found responsible for the killings so far, though the National Liberation Army guerrilla has been initially considered as a suspect. However, Venezuelan authorities claim that the soccer players were paramilitaries, and these claims have added to the conflict between the countries. Besides the “incidents” already described above, Colombian intelligence officials or “spies” as the Venezuelan government refers to them, have been “captured” in Venezuelan territory, 8 “paramilitaries” were arrested in Táchira, two Venezuelan national guards were killed by gunmen on the border, and another was expelled [es] by the Colombian government. Colombia's intelligence agency even admitted that documents showed by Venezuelan Interior Minister Tareck El Aissami, seized from the “spies” captured in Maracay, were authentic [es]. Venezuela's government is upset for the agreement between United States and Colombia, which allows the former to use several military bases in the latter's territory, which has been presented as a “co-operation accord”. The pact was signed in early November, but it already has been the subject of an extraordinary UNASUR meeting past August to discuss the matter. On November 8, Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez told the Venezuelan military, on his weekly program Aló, Presidente that “the best way to avoid war is by preparing for it”. (see the video on the Adam Isacson post linked at the end of this post). Around 15,000 troops have already been sent to the border by Chávez. Colombia, which planned to send 12,000 troops, took the case to the Organization of American States and the United Nations, but the letter sent by the Colombian government did not ask for actions against Caracas. Meanwhile, President Chávez softened his rhetoric, claiming his words had been “manipulated.” In addition, its Public Works minister, who is also the president of the Communications Commission, announced it will sanction [es] the media which “manipulate” Chávez's words. However, a few days later, the Venezuelan president again raised his tone against the Colombian government, blaming the U.S. base pact for his country's tensions with its neighbor. Chávez insulted the Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva by calling him“mentally retarded”, the Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermúdez as being “disgraceful”, after Mr, Bermúdez “regretted” UNASUR's silence over Chávez's words. He also called President Álvaro Uribe Vélez by calling him“mafioso” and a “traitor” for delivering “the motherland to the yankees” [es]. Brazil, Spain, and even the United States have offered to mediate. In the blog Atrabilioso [es], Jaime Restrepo writes: Si hay algo repetitivo en el accionar de la dictadura venezolana es el lanzamiento de cortinas de humo. Los venezolanos están tan acostumbrados, ya vencidos por la fuerza de la repetición del mecanismo, que terminan aceptando los torpes montajes que elaboran desde Miraflores, para desviar la atención nacional e internacional. La última cortina de humo es una ignominia: para tratar de ocultar el secuestro y ajusticiamiento de nueve colombianos en Venezuela, el dictador y su ministro del interior han armado un alboroto sobre la captura de tres presuntos funcionarios del DAS, que estarían haciendo “inteligencia” para “desestabilizar” al progresista de Miraflores. If there is something repetitive in the actions of the Venezuelan dictatorship, it is the launch of smokescreens. Venezuelan people are so used to them, so beaten by the force of the repetition of this strategy, that they end accepting the clumsy farces elaborated from Miraflores [residence of the Venezuelan president] in order to draw away domestic and international attention. The latest smokescreen is an infamy: in order to hide the kidnapping and execution of 9 Colombians in Venezuela, the dictator and his Interior Minister have made a fuss about the capture of three alleged members of DAS [Colombia's intelligence agency], who would have been “spying” to “destabilize” the progressive [president] from Miraflores. Restrepo also criticizes the passiveness of the Colombian government.