The World Says Elect the Black Guy

The Economist endorsing Obama. They also have a good bit on Senator McCain versus Candidate McCain.
Is Mr Obama any better? Most of the hoopla about him has been about what he is, rather than what he would do. His identity is not as irrelevant as it sounds. Merely by becoming president, he would dispel many of the myths built up about America: it would be far harder for the spreaders of hate in the Islamic world to denounce the Great Satan if it were led by a black man whose middle name is Hussein; and far harder for autocrats around the world to claim that American democracy is a sham. America’s allies would rally to him: the global electoral college on our website shows a landslide in his favour. At home he would salve, if not close, the ugly racial wound left by America’s history and lessen the tendency of American blacks to blame all their problems on racism.

DNI speaks, the world trembles

Sometimes I just wish policy analysts and professionals would read an article or two not spout off on what they think the causes of conflict will be based on narrow perceptions.
"Strategic rivalries are most likely to revolve around trade, demographics, access to natural resources, investments and technological innovation. There will be a struggle to acquire technology advantage as the key enabler for dominance," he said.
*The above factors are not likely to cause rivalry future and have not in the past. It is possible that these issues will become important to rivals, but that is only after the rivalry starts in the first place.

Everyone Hide, the Mexicans are coming

I hate to give articles like this links, but this one is just so extreme and weird, it has to be shared. If you will excuse me now, I am going to go to work on taking over American from within. Obama is part of our plan all along. (sneaky Halloween laugh here)
"Although many Mexicans support and aid these terrorists, Mexicans have an agenda all their own: reconquista, the retaking of the Southwest United States. They believe they have a right to be in the Southwest, and plan to recolonize it. Their intentions are transparent, their success rate increasing...If retaliation is not forthcoming, Aztlan will live again. Every single white person will be removed from the Southwest or eliminated."

UIC Soccer on ESPN

Sorry for the lack of recent posts, been busy writing (with frequent ten minute mario kart breaks). For some reason my blog has gone all funky in terms of text colors and what not, so for now it is a blueish purple to allow it to be read. I will fix later.

ESPN on UIC soccer

Latino Hate

Just so we all remember how much some people hate Latinos

"Indecent Proposals: Top 10 Most Offensive Quotes from Anti-Immigrant Leaders"

1.) "We need the National Guard to clean out all ourcities and round them up...They have no problem slitting your throat and taking your money or selling drugs to your kids or raping your daughters, and they are evil people."[1]
Chris Simcox, co-founder of the Minuteman Project and president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. As quoted in the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report magazine, Summer 2005.

2.) "Mexican men have a reputation for leering and worse at little girls, which shouldn't surprise us, since sex with children is socially acceptable in Mexico."[2]
Brenda Walker, California anti-immigrant leader and publisher. From VDARE.com article titled "Top Ten Reasons Why the US Should Not Marry Mexico," January 1, 2007.

3.) "My message to them is, not in two weeks, not in two months, not in two years, never! We must be clear that we will not surrender America and we will not turn the United States over to the invaders from south of the border."[3]
Rep. Virgil Goode (R- VA), at the March for America, Washington, DC, June 18, 2007.

4.) "I don't care if Mexicans pile up against that fence ... just run a couple of taco trucks up and down the line..."[4]
Neal Boortz, anti-immigrant talk radio host on WSB-AM in Atlanta on June 18, 2007.

5.) "Terrorists are also walking in unopposed; our southwestern border is littered with Arabic papers and Islamic prayer rugs."[5]
Jim Gilchrist, founder of Minutemen Project. From a press release announcing the forthcoming publication of a new book co-authored with Jerome R. Corsi, February 2006.

6.) "The brown toxic cloud strangling Los Angeles never lifts and grows thicker with every immigrant added. One can't help appreciate the streets of Paris will soon become the streets of LA. However, Paris' streets erupted while LA's shall sink into a Third World quagmire much like Bombay or Calcutta, India. When you import that much crime, illiteracy, multiple languages and disease-Americans pick up stakes and move away."[6]
Frosty Wooldridge, anti-immigrant author and activist. Summarizing an address by a KABC-AM talk radio host to the Federation for American Immigration Reform director's meeting, Fall 2005.

7.) "What we'll do is randomly pick one night every week where we will kill whoever crosses the
border...step over there and you die. You get to decide whether it's your lucky night or not. I think that would be more fun."[7]
Brian James, anti-immigrant talk radio host with KFYI-AM in Phoenix. Suggesting a solution to the immigration problem in Arizona while filling in for the regular host, March 2006.

8.) "Shoot him."[8]
Phil Valentine, anti-immigration talk radio host, WWTN in Nashville. Advising Border Patrol agents to shoot undocumented immigrants during an anti-immigrant rally in Franklin, Tennessee, April 27, 2006.

9.) "We've got to make it in this country so (immigrants) can't exist here...We've got to rattle
their teeth and put their feet to the fire!"[9]
Terry Anderson, anti-immigrant talk radio host with KRLA in Los Angeles. Speaking at a "Hold Their Feet to the Fire" anti-immigrant rally organized by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, April 22, 2007.

10.) "Our enemies are bloodied and beaten. We cannot relent. Our boot is on their throat and we must have the willingness to crush their ‘throat' so that we can put our enemy down for good. The sovereignty of our nation and the future of our culture and civilization is at stake. The United States is a beacon of salvation unto the rest of the world. Our freedoms, our culture is mans salvation. If we perish, man perishes."[10]
Joseph Turner, Save Our State (S.O.S), now a staff member with the Federation for American Immigration Reform. Message sent to Save Our State supporters on October 7, 2006.

Latino Scholarships

FREE LATINO SCHOLARSHIP WEBSITE RECEIVES OVER 110,000 UNIQUE VISITORS IN FIRST EIGHT MONTHS OF THE YEAR
Los Angeles, CA. Latino College Dollars, a website offering interactive, no-cost information about scholarships available to Latino students, received over 110,000 unique visitors in the first eight months of 2008.

"We are continually updating the website," said Corina Espinoza, Director of the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI) Kids to College program. "And the 2008-09 directory will be coming out in late October."

Latino College Dollars currently offers over 325 sources that students may contact for college scholarship information. The website grew from a TRPI research project assessing information available on the web to Latino students. "Curiously, we found that half of the websites on Latino scholarships were not functional," stated Wendy Chavira, Associate Director of Operations at the Institute. "However, the remaining websites offered relevant information. Rather than saving the information, we decided to publish it."

According to TRPI research, lack of information on college financing options is widespread among Latino youth and parents. Latinos lag behind in college preparation, resulting in only 7.2 % of Latinos between the ages of 18-24 enrolled in a 4-year college institution.

Please click here to visit TRPI's Latino College Dollars website.

Click here to view the 2007-2008 directory.

TRPI encourages organizations offering scholarships for Latino students to contact the Institute to be included in the next Latino College Dollars directory.

Internship Oppurtunity

Do you have students that may be interested in a paid internship working for the Illinois State Legislature?
v Interns receive a stipend of $2,026 per month with health insurance included.
v Interns earn 8 graduate credits in political studies from the University of Illinois at Springfield.
v Interns work as legislative staff with either the partisan staffs of the Illinois General Assembly or the Legislative Research Unit.
Interning with the Illinois Legislature prepares interns for a variety of career paths. Interns work closely with seasoned professionals in the unique environment of the State legislature.
v Interns provide research and analytical support to committee leaders and members.
v Interns analyze agency budgets and take part in crafting the state budget.
v Interns handle press and newsletters for assigned legislators.
v Interns gain personal access and build relationships with legislators, lobbyist and other state contractors.
Interning with Legislative Research Bureau primarily prepares interns for research career paths, while working with seasoned legal and communication professionals.
v Interns gain legal research skills.
v Interns respond to research requests from state legislators.
v Interns help write official state documents and resources.

Upon completion of the program, interns pursue a number of professional avenues.
v Interns are offered full-time positions on a legislative staff.
v Interns pursue careers in public policy with a state agency or lobbying firm.
v Interns pursue law degrees.
v Interns continue their educational pursuits.
The Illinois Legislative Staff Intern Program has a 35- year history and is considered one of the top ten internship programs in the United States.
v Applicants must complete their undergraduate degree by September 1, 2009.
v Applicants with advanced degrees are preferred.
v Applicants with a 3.0 GPA are preferred.
v Applications must be postmarked by February 1, 2009.
v Internships start August 16, 2009 and end June 30, 2010.
If you know a student or others interested in an internship with the Illinois General Assembly, please share this email. Application materials are available online or I can send them to you directly by email or post. For more information, please contact me at 217.206.6579 or visit the ILSIP website at http://ilsip.uis.edu.

Sincerely,
Barbara Van Dyke-Brown
Director, Legislative Internships and Advocacy Programs

P.S. Recruiters will be in attendance at your upcoming graduate/career fair on October 2, 2008. We would appreciate your efforts to encourage interested students to attend the fair and learn more about the Illinois Legislative Staff Intern Program.

So Proud of Vandy

Can you tell me what all these guys have in common, except maybe a guy on page four?

Super Extra Cool Long Distance Russian Jets That Take the Long Way to a Target

I feel kinda sick about this (Video here). Does she really think Russian jets are going to attack America? And for that matter, does she think they still use them when they have ballistic missiles on hand? Did she watch Dr. Strangelove recently?
By her criteria of trade missions being foreign policy experience, any border states near Mexico should give us our next President. I am pretty sure I see more foreign reps at the Mexican consulate on Ashland than Russians in Alaska.
"As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It's Alaska."

Migrants and Education

This article attempts to debunk a few myths about migrants and education. When adjusted for socio-economic status, migrants tend to do as well as and better than host country students in many cases. Where they do not do better or preform worse, tends to be in the school systems that 'track' them out of the higher achievement classes.
"That suggests that any country that figures out how to let incomers shine will reap big benefits. Immigrants, however poor, are a self-selected bunch of ambitious, hard-working people, and their children usually know that, lacking the informal networks that let locals get ahead, they must study hard to succeed. Their varying fates—helped to the top in some places, consigned to the scrapheap in others—show that although what happens outside the school gates is important, what happens in classrooms is too."

Extra Credit for Fall 08

Guidelines for Extra Credit

You may choose to either write a report on a movie or a book (treat an event or lecture as a book) for extra credit. This report is due when you turn in your final paper. The movie review will be worth up to 7 points; a book/event review will be worth up to 15 points.

Details:
Movie: The movie must deal with international issues (or international Latino issues if that is your class) including anything we have covered in class. No movies on interpersonal relationships or tenuous connections to international events will be accepted (Borat). The movie can come from any time period. It would be best to get the movie approved before you watch. You must write at least a 4 page paper that will include one half review of the movie and the issues it covers. The second half will consider how it is relevant to the class and what lessons we can take from it. This assignment will be graded like any other essay, 7 points are not guaranteed. I do NOT want a recap of the movie.

Book: The book must deal with contemporary international issues (see above). It should be published after 9/11. The same issues mentioned in the movie option are fair game. It would be best to get the book approved by me before attempting to write a review. Your review must be at least 7 pages. It should be completed as your normal required book report (1/3 review, 1/3 connection to international issues, and 1/3 criticisms or support). This assignment will be graded like any other essay, 15 points are not guaranteed. I do NOT want a recap of the book/event.

UIC Talk

Professor Brandon Valeriano & Vitaliy Voznyak Kickoff
2008 UIC Political Science Department Colloquium

Professor Brandon Valeriano and graduate student Vitaliy Voznyak will discuss their paper Russia -- United States, 1991--2006: The Transformation of an Interstate Rivalry and its Implications for the "Near Abroad" at the first Department Colloquium of the 2008-09 academic year. The talk will be held on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at noon in room 1115 BSB. Everyone is invited.

I missed the memo, does that make me unethical

Email I got today. I partially agree, its wrong to display overt signs of allegiance to any candidate while teaching, but to attend a rally on campus??? If that is such an issue the event should be off campus. If the Cubs are a political party, I am in trouble.

To: UI faculty at Chicago, Springfield, and Urbana

This month the University of Illinois Ethics Office informed faculty and staff that it is unethical to attend campus rallies for candidates running for public office, to wear buttons endorsing political candidates or political parties on campus, or to place comparable bumper stickers on cars to be parked in university-owned lots. Faculty are understandably concerned about the administration's critique of such forms of free speech and political expression as they have been exercised without controversy for years. Although these rules are not at present being enforced, the AAUP deplores their chilling effect on speech, their interference with the educational process, and their implicit castigation of normal practice during political campaigns. A prohibition on political bumper stickers can well cross a line and infringe on extramural political speech.

While we are unhappy with how the university has interpreted the state's ethics rules, we also have other fundamental concerns. The Ethics Office has failed to recognize and accurately define both the special context of a university and the role of its faculty members. Campus education requires that faculty and students have comparable freedom of expression on political subjects. This applies not only to obvious contexts like courses on politics and public policy in a variety of departments but also to the less formal settings in which faculty and students interact. Political speech embraces not only buttons and bumper stickers but also the whole range of advocacy and debate that intensifies during political campaigns. As the rules stand, students can exercise their constitutional rights and attend rallies and wear buttons advocating candidates, but faculty cannot. National elections provide w! onderful educational opportunities across a wide range of disciplines. Thus students might attend campus rallies and later analyze them in a classroom. Are faculty members to have no experience of the rallies themselves? Finally, it is inappropriate to suggest that faculty members function as employees whenever they are on campus. Faculty often move back and forth between employee responsibilities and personal acts within the same time frame.

Cary Nelson, AAUP President

US-Russia Arms Race II: This Time Its Personal

I was trying out movie titles above. I think Hulk Hogan is free for the lead role. This article details the rising Russia defense expenditures.

The Big NeoCon

Near perfect example of applying an IR concept to a contemporary movie. Here the Big Lebowski and Neocons are covered.

Spain = Latin American Leftists?

McCain gaffe that is going to cause a few problems:
"A reporter asked McCain whether, if elected, he would receive Zapatero in the White House. McCain answered, "Honestly, I have to analyze our relationships, situations, and priorities, but I can assure you that I will establish closer relationships with our friends, and I will stand up to those who want to harm the United States." As a result, much of the Spanish press has decided that the Republican candidate, who hails himself as the experienced foreign policy choice in this election, confused Spain - a NATO member and key ally in the fight against terrorism - with one of those troublesome Latin American states. That was certainly the interviewer's impression, for she followed up with a gentle reminder that Spain was a country in Europe."

Alliance between Russia and breakaway enclaves

Now Russia has signed security alliances with South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
"The treaties also allow Russia to build military bases and station additional troops in the territories. Those steps, if put into effect, would violate the European-brokered cease-fire that ended Russia’s war with Georgia last month."
and for new relating to our Latin American class:
"So far only Nicaragua has joined Russia in recognizing the two as sovereign nations, as has Hamas, the Palestinian faction that controls Gaza. Ms. Rice mocks Russia’s diplomatic efforts in her remarks. “A pat on the back from Daniel Ortega and Hamas is hardly a diplomatic triumph,” she says, referring to Nicaragua’s president."

Link Fixed

I fixed the link to this Tuesday reading on Latinos and Soccer. Sorry for the error. In future coudl someone please tell me early!

America and its fracturing relationship with the Latin 'Left'

Recent AP article on Latin America-US Relations

Why Republicans Should Attack Latinos by Frum

Here is the recent David Frum article that outlines how to save the Republican party by attacking immigrants. He is basically saying that the middle class is being harmed by Latinos and the Republicans need to protect the middle class against the immigrant wave.

"The poverty rate for post-1970 immigrants and their native-born children is almost 50 percent higher than for the native born. No mystery why this should be so: one-third of adult new immigrants have not finished high school. And there is reason to fear that this poverty will become entrenched: barely half of Latino students complete high school on time; 48 percent of births to Latino women occur outside marriage. IN SHORT, the trend to inequality is real, it is large and it is transforming American society and the American electoral map. Yet the conservative response to this trend verges somewhere between the obsolete and the irrelevant. Conservatives need to stop denying reality. The stagnation of the incomes of middle-class Americans is a fact."

Territorial Claim

Here is an interesting article about a territorial claim disputed between Japan and South Korea.

"For outsiders, the dispute over islets that seem to rise vertically from the sea and have little economic value, might seem esoteric. But for those Koreans who have never forgiven Japan for its brutal occupation of their country and who continue to measure success against Japanese competitors, the dispute over what the South Koreans call Dokdo and Japan calls Takeshima is very real, and very emotional."

Bush Behind the Surge

Bush was behind the decision to increase the number of troops in Iraq!?! Its all kinda shocking, my head is spinning a bit. We have evidence of Bush as a bold and decisive leader. The NYTimes released a long article today going the successful surge strategy in Iraq. A must read.

"In January 2007, at a time when the situation in Iraq appeared the bleakest, Mr. Bush chose a bold option that was at odds with what many of his civilian and military advisers, including his field commander, initially recommended. Mr. Bush’s plan to send more than 20,000 troops to carry out a new counterinsurgency strategy has helped to reverse the spiral of sectarian killings in Iraq."

And now for a non-IR moment

As some of you know, soccer has sorta lost its allure to me after my team, Manchester United, won it all last year. We won the league and the European championship. Now there isn't much to play for. The best player, Ronaldo is being a jerk about wanting to leave the team that made him a star for Real Madrid. My other team, the US national team, is playing some of the worst soccer I have ever seen, even though the players are supposedly getting better and more experienced.

So I have pretty much moved on full time to baseball. Going back to my first childhood love has been a fun experience. It is nice to remember what it was like to be a kid. To idolize Steve Garvey, then Jim Abbot, then Barry Bonds (yes, I liked him back when he was a skinny kid). By my count I have been to 34 Cubs games this year with four more to go (ain't a sabbatical and a flexible schedule grand).


Baseball brings everything I love together, stats and luck. Statistics are about finding means and averages, knowing what to expect based on the past. That is the whole point of numbers, to tell a story. Baseball is pretty much like that in that most players preform pretty much as expected given a certain amount of at bats and innings. Yet, there are always those that luck out, those that have a career year that no one expected, like Geovanny Soto or Ryan Dempster.

And then there is the other part of baseball I love, the stories, the pain, and excitement of being a fan. Of rooting for your home team, and when they do well, everything is right in life. As my friend said, it must be nice to be a guy and have your whole day made by a sports team. But such is life.

Baseball also is about experiences, good and bad. And this story is one of the best, most heartbreaking, stories I have ever read. It is not a fun read, but sometimes the best ones are like this, as is life. It is what it is.

The Steps to War

My mentor, John Vasquez, released his new book. Get it for extra credit (if you write a paper on it)!

South Ossetia Primer

Here is a primer on issue behind the Russia-Georgia conflict.

The 'Other' as the President

I don't know how I could be more offended by this. What does it mean to be a 'typical American?" What does Mark Penn mean? Is it wrong to have different views in the American melting pot?

"Penn, the presidential campaign’s chief strategist, wrote in a memo to Clinton excerpted in the article: “I cannot imagine America electing a president during a time of war who is not at his center fundamentally American in his thinking and in his values.”

184 Summer Second Set of Readings

What is War?
Clausewitz, Whole On War Book
Selection on What is War?
Bremer, Dangerous Dyads

Lawrence of Arabia
T.E. Lawrence's Proposed Map of the Middle East
Lawrence the Peril's of State Building

Detterence (Dr. Strangelove)
Herman Kahn's Doomsday Machine
Nuclear Deterrence Theory: Book Review
Deterrence and Dr. Strangelove Teaching Guide
Carol Cohn: Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense Intellectuals

Gandhi
Means and Ends
Passive Resistance

Cold War Diplomacy
Diplomacy of the Korean Conflict

13 Days (Cuban Missile Crisis)
Cuban Missile Crisis Docs
Conceptual Models of Decision Making

New Territorial Dispute

Dispute between Cambodia and Thailand over a World Heritage Site.

McNamara's 11 Eleven Lessons

Here are the 11 Lessons from Fog of War that I have listed. I am not sure why there are different versions of the lessons listed.

Lesson #1: Empathize with your enemy.

Lesson #2: Rationality will not save us.

Lesson #3: There’s something beyond one’s self.

Lesson #4: Maximize efficiency.

Lesson #5: Proportionality should be a guideline in war.

Lesson #6: Get the data.

Lesson #7: Belief and seeing are both often wrong.

Lesson #8: Be prepared to reexamine your reasoning.

Lesson #9: In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil.

Lesson #10: Never say never.

Lesson #11: You can’t change human nature

War Powers Act

There is a new debate about War Powers Act and how to reform it. Here is an op-ed piece in the NYTimes and here is the link to the full report produced by Warren Christopher and James Baker.

Rice's New Realism

Here is a follow up to an old article Condi Rice wrote about American FP goals. This article advances a form of the national interest that includes the spread of democracy, even before capitalism, as a necessary element of the national interest.

War of the World

This new documentary on PBS that explores the World Wars and morality. Extra credit option for summer class. The documentary and book it is based on deals with morality, suffering, and the continuous warfare that Europe experience in the 20th century.
In Chicago, the first episode is on Wed (technically Thurs) at 3:30am on Channel 11. Second episode is at 10pm on Monday. Listed under War of the World if you do a search.

Israel Demonstrating Realism

This is not an official government sentiment, but it does reflect typical realist thought.

"He warned that while it would be preferable to have American support and participation in a strike on Iran, Israel will not be afraid to go it alone. When it comes to decisions that have to do with our national security and our own survival, at best we may update the Americans that we are intending or planning or going to do something. It's not a precondition, [getting] an American agreement," he said."

Soccer in Politics

Taking a novel approach, this op-ed piece proposes threating the coming World Cup in South Africa as a consequence for South Africa's non-action on the Zimbabwe question.

"Perhaps it’s time to share the Zimbabweans’ pain, to help persuade Mr. Mbeki to bear down on its source by threatening to grab the world’s soccer ball and take our games elsewhere."

Sports rules the world...once again

Fog of War Report

The Fog of War report is due on July 15. It should be between 5-7 pages. There is no length requirement but you obviously need a certain amount of space to complete the assignment.

Assignment:
Propose a documentary movie based on an interview with one person or a group of people. Outline who you are choosing and why. Then explain how you would conduct a critical oral history interview of the subject(s).

What case are you choosing? Why is it important?
What lessons from the Fog of War book would be useful in examining this case? Why?
What new lessons might be learned by doing a critical history project?
How did the Fog of War influence your choice of subject and goals?
(Do not pick a President or similar leader of a state. Stay away from any event since 9/11.)

Intro to IR Summer Readings, Post 1

Thomas Aquinas, Of War

Thucydides, Melian Dialogue

Machiavelli, The Prince
Read parts of Chapter 5, 15, 17, 18, 21

Morgenthau, A Realist Theory of International Politics

Kennan, Diplomacy in the Modern World
No clear copy online, use these sources to get some background
Kennan Century
Kennan Obit
Excerpt from Book

Wolfers, National Security as an Ambiguous Symbol

Wilson, World Must be Made Safe for Democracy
14 Points Speech

US National Security Strategy

Tolstoy, Patriotism and Government

Zinn, Setting the Moral Equation
This version refers to Afghanistan, not Vietnam as reader version does

Colombia Border Dispute

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/world/americas/01colombia.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

Talkat UW

University of Washington Institute for the Study of Ethnicty, Race, and Sexuality
WISER Winter 2008
Brown Bag Series
Prof. Brandon Valeriano
Tuesday, February 5th
Gowen 1A
11:45am—1:00pm
W I S E R
“Latino Assimilation, Divided Loyalties, and the World Cup”
Professor Brandon Valeriano
University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Political Science

Talk at USC

I am presenting "The Tragedy of Offensive Realism: Testing Aggressive Power Politics Models." at USC on Jan 30th.

The event is 12:30pm-2pm, and is located in the Social Sciences (SOS) Building, Room B40 (see campus map). To park enter campus through Gate 3 off of Figueroa Blvd (between Jefferson Blvd and Exposition Blvd) and park in Lot PSX. The cost of parking is $8. From the parking lot, they would just have to walk across the quad and the SOS building is right there adjacent to the building with the big globe on top (we are down in the basement of the building). They can use this address if they need to mapquest driving directions: 3520 Trousdale Pkwy, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0037

Chavez and FARC

Emerging Rivals, Venezuela and Colombia
FARC and Terrorism in LA Times
"But when Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez proposed this month that Colombia's largest rebel group be recognized as "belligerents," not terrorists, the reverberations reached to Washington and Europe, and relations between the two Latin American nations plunged to what one observer called perhaps the lowest point in their history.

But the Colombian government bitterly protested what it viewed as interference in its affairs. Colombian officials worry that Venezuela might take the further step of recognizing the rebels as a "state in formation," a status that France and Mexico granted the Sandinista rebels during the Nicaraguan civil war in the late 1970s.

Such a move would mean "giving the FARC diplomatic immunity, asylum rights, Venezuelan passports, and freedom from extradition," said former Colombian Defense Minister Rafael Pardo, now a consultant based in Bogota, the capital. "They would be giving the FARC a legitimacy, and that's very grave."

FARC rebels are thought to hold captive for barter or ransom about 700 civilians they have kidnapped in the last decade. Over the course of a 40-year war, they have killed hundreds of local and national politicians who didn't share their views.

In many areas of Colombia where they control the drug trade, rebels force poor farmers to grow coca. They burn vehicles that use roads they say are off-limits and deploy car bombs that sometimes kill passersby."