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Simon Bólivar liberated Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela from the clutches of the
Spanish Empire in the early 19th century, and he also contributed significantly to Peru's
liberation from the Spanish Empire in 1821. He is among the two chief liberators of South
America, alongside José de San Martín.
Bólivar fought for freedom from the Spanish crown with a fire that struck fear into the hearts
of his opponents. What is known of him is that he was a fierce competitor and a brilliant
military man, and it was for these reasons that when Bólivar (from Venezuela) and José de
San Martín (from Argentina) met in Guayaquil, Ecuador, it was the Venezuelan who took
command of the campaign and José de San Martín who went home.
Today, there isn't a nation in South America that does not pay some homage to the
liberator, and a statue of him even graces Central Park South, right in the heart of New
York City.
And then there is the Bolivarian Movement, which holds sway over Bolivia, Ecuador, and
Nicaragua, has influence in Argentina, and which was ousted, last year, from Honduras.
The Bolivarian Movement, emanating from Venezuela, has also tried to coopt electoral
movements in Peru, through Ollanta Humala, one of the contenders for the presidency
back in 2006 and a man who will likely run, again, in 2011.
Opposing Venezuela's Bolivarian Movement, the brain-child of Hugo Chávez, is Colombia.
The Colombian government, long-since locked into what appears to be an interminable
struggle against formerly Marxist rebels who have since become stewards of the drug
trade, is a right-wing government and a long-time ally of the United States.
The United States is, by definition, the enemy of the Bolivarian Movement, which holds
anti-imperialism as one of its strongest cornerstones. And, yes, given the imperialistic
actions of the United States in regards to Latin America since the late 19th century, the
United States is by definition an enemy of Chávez's movement.
Thus, so is Colombia. And, of course, Colombia is an historic rival of Venezuela.
This is the fault line that has long-since been emerging in South America since the 2002
coup attempt against Hugo Chavez. The Venezuelan tyrant claims (and evidence is on his
side) that the United States sponsored the coup and was behind the planning of it. The
coup, obviously, failed and the tyrant's disdain for the United States was made public.
In this game that is being described, one key player has been left out: Brazil.
That's because, of course, Brazil wants it that way. Brazil had its battle for dominance over
South America with Venezuela a few years ago and, without any shots being fired and
without many insults, Brazil quietly won that battle, making itself the hegemonic power in
South America, and no nation in South America has chafed much under that
hegemony (save for Argentina, which was dealt a severe blow to its pride).
Well, all of that is history.

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More recently, Hugo Chávez threatened to cut off its oil deliveries to the United States, a
move that would make oil prices go up in the United States and which would cripple
Venezuela's oil-dependent economy.
Thus, Chávez will not actually carry out his threat.
But then, Chávez seems to be re-defining his level of madness on a daily basis.
The conflict that is brewing between Venezuela and Colombia would be detrimental to the
increasingly friendly relationship that currently exists throughout South America.
A brief military analysis would likely yield a stalemate. Both nations boast modern militaries
and although the Colombians have more battle experience and may rely on intelligence
assistance from the United States, Venezuela will always be able to rely on Ecuador,
another antagonist for Colombia, to start a second front against Colombia, which would be
an impossible situation for the Colombian military.
At that point, South America would spiral out of control as three modern militaries, all
evenly matched and with differing strengths and weaknesses, would go at one another in a
conflict that would require foreign intervention.
This is not what Hugo Chávez wants. It's certainly not what Colombia wants nor is it what
Ecuador's Rafael Correa wants, either.
Hugo Chávez wants an enemy that he can point to and say, "See, they are the source of
these problems!" when his people start to protest and riot in the streets of poverty-stricken
Caracas.
The real question is, of course, how much sniping will Colombia tolerate before it acts? For
now, it appears as if Colombia is wise to Chávez's game and will not be sucked into
another interminable conflict, this time with Venezuela.
But let's not be over-confident of this, either. Alvaro Uribe, the right-wing president of
Colombia, already had the constitution changed to allow for his re-election in 2006 (a move
that Chávez and his allies in the Bolivarian Movement have applied in Bolivia and
elsewhere). More recently, he tried to change the Colombian constitution again, this time to
allow him to run for a third term. Here, he was stopped and democracy prevailed.
Of course, his intentions and his lust for power have been made clear, and the possibility,
albeit unlikely, still exists that he may use a war with Venezuela as the perfect scapegoat to
push back elections and lead an emergency government. He would not be the first to have
tried it. Alberto Fujimori, of Peru, successfully did that in 1992 to deal with the terrorist
problem then troubling that nation.
In the end, this is all about the same cancer that has forever plagued South America, since
the arrival of Columbus and the Spaniards in 1492: power.
Bólivar's image is being tarnished and maligned by both sides in this latest struggle, but his
legacy, that of a divided South America, is the culprit of the disagreement. Until that legacy
is finally cleared and taken care of, South America will remain a land of struggle and
conflict.

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