The real rogue state

Its militaristic rulers seems to be doing everything in their power to whip up regional conflict.

No, it's not Venezuela under Hugo Chavez, despite what some Western-facing media hacks would have us believe. It's narco state number one - Colombia.

Its hard-line President Alvaro Uribe Velez is a good friend of Washington, whose blood-spattered record in the region is not for the faint-hearted.

Since the US declared Latin America its colonial backyard back in the 1800s, it has brutally trampled on democratic regimes to the south, propping up a long line of compliant thugs, torturers and technocrat stooges in order to maintain control.

But developments in recent years have left Washington's corporate friends screaming and its strategic thinkers scrambling to re-establish US influence.

A string of countries, including Colombia's neighbours Venezuela and Ecuador, have refused to play by the rules, electing popular governments more interested in delivering solutions for their people than bowing and scraping to US paymasters.

They know from bitter experience that the only way to do this is to regain control from the multinational corporations and the West's economic rules as laid down by the World Trade Organisation and International Monetary Fund.

It is no coincidence that the propaganda war against Chavez's democratically elected administration is reaching fever pitch.

Oil giant ExxonMobil's shameful attempt to drag Venezuela through the courts simply for asserting its sovereign right over its own resources is merely one piece of the jigsaw.

Almost alone in the region, Colombia remains a staunch US ally. It is rewarded in the form of cold, hard cash and military support, while its people continue to suffer from a long and bloody internal conflict in which the Uribe regime is deeply implicated.

The events of the past few days have seen a ratcheting up of tensions between this US proxy state and its neighbours.

Colombia's wild claims on Venezuelan funding for the FARC and the latter's pursuit of a "dirty bomb" should be treated with a pinch of salt.

But the dangers that the Latin American people now face cannot be underestimated.

The presence of a highly militarised US ally on the doorstep - or even, in the case of Ecuador, entering through it - has led to increasing alarm in the region.

Military conflict may currently be some way off despite the current war of words.

But the truth is that, until external forces cease their meddling, the outlook is one of ever-increasing disinformation, vilification and, ultimately, armed conflict.

What we're seeing played out on an international and regional stage is nothing more than nation states asserting their fundamental right to harness the natural resources within their territory for the good of their people.

Tragically, that's something that the US empire and its allies will do anything to prevent.