Bloggings by boz

Yesterday, the Brazilian Senate officially postponed the vote to allow Venezuela into Mercosur. Allies of Lula told reporters that they couldn't vote for Venezuela this week due to the image that President Chavez was increasing tensions and harming regional stability.

Colombia through various officials reiterated their plan to take Chavez's threats of war to the UN Security Council and the OAS.

Brazilian Defense Minister Jobim said he believed Chavez's statements were just "rhetoric" and that tensions would not increase and the situation would be resolved through dialogue. The US encouraged the two sides to talk bilaterally and through the OAS. The OAS said they were pushing for dialogues and Secretary General Insulza said Brazil would be a good mediator.

All of the criticisms forced Chavez to make a statement backtracking on his previous comments and clarifying that he is not pushing for war and is simply preparing to defend against an invasion. Chavez said the media had misconstrued his earlier comments. He seemed incredulous that people could see his comments and actions as threatening or aggressive.

Some commentators including Steven Taylor and Caracas Chronicles believe Chavez is not serious in his threats. A number of Venezuelan politicians have indicated they think Chavez's attempt to increase tensions with Colombia is trying to distract from domestic problems. At the same time, Colombian politicians are taking the threats very seriously and a closed door congressional meeting addressed whether the military could deter or counter a Venezuelan military attack.