Pubdate: Thu, 04 Aug 2005 Source: Miami Herald (FL) Copyright: 2005 The Miami Herald Contact: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/262 Author: George Gedda, Associated Press VENEZUELA GIVING GUNS TO FARC, OFFICIAL SAYS A U.S. Official Assailed Venezuela For Supporting Colombian Rebels With Weapons. The Venezuelan Embassy Did Not Respond To The Allegation WASHINGTON - A top State Department official said Wednesday that Venezuela is destabilizing its border area with Colombia by supplying weapons to the country's main leftist insurgency. Another State Department official later clarified to The Herald that the statement made by Nicholas Burns, the department's third-ranking official, to The Associated Press did not refer to the government of President Hugo Chavez but to Venezuela in general. Burns said in an interview that the United States is disturbed by what he described as Venezuela's "massive" arms imports and he expressed hope that Venezuela "will refrain from giving support to the FARC," referring to Colombia's oldest and largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Asked if this meant Venezuela has been supporting the FARC with weapons, Burns said yes. Bush administration officials have said in the past that weapons are regularly smuggled from Venezuela to Colombian guerrillas, but stopped far short of accusing the leftist government of Chavez of doing so as a matter of policy. Some of the weapons smuggling has been blamed on Venezuelan police, soldiers and national guardsmen, but for personal profit. The Herald reported in 2003 that the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency had found no evidence that the illegal sale of Venezuelan weapons to Colombian rebels had risen since Chavez was first elected in 1998. The agency, in fact, found evidence of a drop in such sales, depending on how the figures were compared. Not The Government Edgar Vasquez, media duty officer at the State Department, clarified that Burns was referring to "Venezuela, not the government of Venezuela" and that this was "not inconsistent with what officials have said in the past." The Venezuelan Embassy did not immediately respond to an AP call seeking comment. Burns was the luncheon speaker at a daylong seminar on Colombia sponsored by private research groups on the eve of a meeting today between President Bush and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe at Bush's Texas ranch. He underscored U.S. support for Colombia as it attempts to defeat insurgencies sustained by trafficking in illicit drugs. "No relationship is more important than Colombia," Burns said in his speech. Not A Problem During a question-and-answer session after his speech, Burns suggested that Venezuela's leftist government does not pose a major problem for the United States. "We don't lose any sleep over Venezuela," he said. "Our challenge is not to react to everything that Mr. Chavez says and does. And he says and does a lot of things every day. We're not inclined to be provoked." Burns later called the AP to supplement his remarks on Venezuela. Several months ago, the administration complained about a planned Venezuelan purchase of 100,000 rifles from Russia. One concern was that some of the weapons would end up in FARC hands. Chavez has said he is neutral on the conflict in Colombia. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth