Ortega threatens Colombia not to "touch" Venezuela or else.

scott321 says on Jan 27, 2008, 18:01:

Let me correct you Ortega was not accused of rape it was child molesting.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

catherine b says on Jan 27, 2008, 18:12:

Even worse!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

msaucey says on Jan 27, 2008, 18:29:

...El ALBA está conformado por Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia y Dominica, y se presenta como la contraparte del rea de Libre Comercio de las Amércas (ALCA) propuesto por Estados Unidos....

WOW, these countries are his support group... Ummm..... Are they all eating coca paste for breakfast too.... You think that Nicaragua would have learned by now to keep to themselves...

The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. - CS Lewis

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tejasmarcos says on Jan 27, 2008, 18:36:

isn't nicaragua the poorest latin american country today? do they even have a military presence whatsoever? so beyond words, what would they TRY to do if Colombia womped the nutcase in Venezuela?

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

0 funny, 0 helpful.

msaucey says on Jan 27, 2008, 18:40:

TM, I was thinking about this.... Cuba and DR are both on islands... and Nicaragua is practically an island too.... it's not like Nicaraguas neighbors are going to be like, yes we hate you, but go ahead let your army of 30 through so that you can attack our friend Colombia.... Bolivia's army is rather small if I'm correct and aren't they have issues in their country right now to?.... Ummm..... I'm not sure what strategy they are thinking, but hell, I believe King Carlos is more then willing to send his army over to give Venezuela a good old fashion a$$ whooping...

The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. - CS Lewis

0 funny, 0 helpful.

slguy says on Jan 27, 2008, 19:15:

Bolivia's army is about 36,000 strong. 50% of those troops under age 18. and 40% of THOSE are under 16. . Their Navy? patrols Lake Titicaca the world's highest inland lake, sharing a border with Peru. Bolivia's landlocked - zero direct access to international martime shipping. Bolivia won't be opening any cans of whoopass on anyone, any time soon.

Evo's got his hands full, trying to keep Bolivia in one piece as a country. 4-5 of the country's 9 provinces have declared independence from La Paz - but only symbolically, since none of them has any militia, etc. But They ARE the economic heart of the country, such as it is. Bolivia being the poorest S. American country....

Before you throw me out, make sure I pay my bar tab

0 funny, 0 helpful.

msaucey says on Jan 27, 2008, 19:19:

So, let me see.... Bolivia, Nicaragua, and DR are all tied for poorest latin american countries and are rising their makeshift arms at Colombia, being backed by Cuba and Venezuela?.... seriously, what are they all smoking and why don't we live under this illusion...

The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. - CS Lewis

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tejasmarcos says on Jan 27, 2008, 19:27:

40% under 16 - staggering!

nice dig on the stats slg.

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

0 funny, 0 helpful.

slguy says on Jan 27, 2008, 19:35:

not an army anyone has deepseated fear of- not even bolivians, tejas.

I have a personal interest in Bolivia, so I the stats were just part of my learning curve. but thanks anyway....

Before you throw me out, make sure I pay my bar tab

0 funny, 0 helpful.

bamacellist says on Jan 27, 2008, 19:46:

"Bolivia, Nicaragua, and DR "

Not the Dominican Republic. Dominica, which may mean it's not as scary as you originally thought.

"The future is much like the present, only longer."

0 funny, 0 helpful.

msaucey says on Jan 27, 2008, 19:48:

bama, thanks for the correction... That's true, I forgot that they've been doing quite well lately with the excess of retirees they've attracted...

The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. - CS Lewis

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Mr. Hollywood says on Jan 27, 2008, 19:56:

SLguy, where did you dig up those stats on Bolivia? That's very interesting, as it would seem to violate all sorts of international conventions on having underage kids in the military.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

slguy says on Jan 27, 2008, 20:00:

Hollywood, I'll find the link. I saw it several weks ago- so in the interest of fairness, it's possible I misquoted- although the numbers were so shocking, I'm pretty sure I'm close.

Before you throw me out, make sure I pay my bar tab

0 funny, 0 helpful.

diabloblas says on Jan 27, 2008, 20:03:

i remember reagan warning the states that the nicaraguan threat was only 3 hours away

0 funny, 0 helpful.

slguy says on Jan 27, 2008, 20:05:

I was close- except that I reversed the 50 and 40...

Military service age and obligation
18 years of age for voluntary military service; when annual number of volunteers falls short of goal, compulsory recruitment is effected, including conscription of boys as young as 14; one estimate holds that 40% of the armed forces are under the age of 18, with 50% of those under the age of 16; conscript tour of duty - 12 months (2004)

http://www.indexmundi.com/bolivia/military_profile.html

And i averaged the total number - I see numbers ranging from 31-39,000 - with an inordinate number being conscripts- one number said 25,000 of 31,000 arew conscripted.

Before you throw me out, make sure I pay my bar tab

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Robert Jorge says on Jan 27, 2008, 21:29:

I understood Bolivia as the poorest Latin American country too. Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas, but it is usually not considered "Latin". Even though Creole has French in it, and French is a Latin based language. If you fly over Hispanol, it is easy to see the border between the DR and Haiti. The DR side is green, and the Haitian side is brown.

BEWARE of gold diggers.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

scotty says on Jan 28, 2008, 01:52:

Uribe wouldnt even have to sound an alarm. he could make one phone call to Bush and immediately an very big air craft carrier would be sitting off the coast of Colombia and that would be the end of that.
Not only that i think Colombian military could kick some chavez ass and some Ortega assin a new york minute.
If Uribe will give me a gun i would gladly volunteer to fight with the Colombians. Slguy lets you and I go down there and help our Colombian bros kick some butt!

Get Rhythm, when you got the blues. Johnny Cash

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tomtom33 says on Jan 28, 2008, 02:14:

Diablo, that was during the cold war. Reagan was talking about potential Soviet missiles, not the threat of anything that Nicaragua herself could do by any stretch of the imagination. And he had the Contras on his mind.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

aztec says on Jan 28, 2008, 04:01:

diabloblas,

The threat was the Soviet Union establishing another base in the Western Hemisphere.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

scott321 says on Jan 28, 2008, 04:25:

Dont worry guys I lived in Nicaragua the last 7 years. If they declare war on Colombia none of there soldiers will show up on time for the battles if they show up at all.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tejasmarcos says on Jan 28, 2008, 05:47:

scott321- where did you live in nic? i guess you were aware of the gringo that went to prison for a while on charges of murdering his girlfriend (west coast)? did that create problems for you in nic?

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

0 funny, 0 helpful.

scott321 says on Jan 28, 2008, 06:24:

Lived in Granada Nic. Just moved to Cartagena for one year last week. Will go back to Granada at end of the year. The murder case is Eric Volz. It had no effect on me at all.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

diabloblas says on Jan 28, 2008, 08:27:

yes yes yes guys...but reagan meant it as a scare tactic... & as we know now what we all suspected then...he was deteriorating mentally & had many gaffs mixing up truth with his cinematic military career...

reagan had more than contras on his mind...there were the godless commies & the evil empire...wasn't it on his watch when we commited an act of war in mining their harbors...purely a terorist attack as they were only strong enough to solicite an emotional response.

..poor old nicaragua has suffered under manifest destiny, the monroe doctrine & its own strategic geographic location over the years...resulting in the states occupation for most of the 20th century...why else is baseball the number one sport?



.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

slguy says on Jan 28, 2008, 08:31:

diabloblas,

fascinating point of view. I'm guessing that a people who often elect Ortega their president have no culpability in the plight of their country? It's all RR's fault?

Before you throw me out, make sure I pay my bar tab

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tasco66 says on Jan 28, 2008, 08:53:

“Ortega threatens Colombia not to "touch" Venezuela or else."

Thanks for posting that. It had me laughing all morning.

Bravo, Presidente Uribe for the perfect operation!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

billyb says on Jan 28, 2008, 09:02:

Today the Miami Dolphins announced that if the Patriots beat the Giants in the Superbowl, they will run up the score on New England next season.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

guacharaca says on Jan 28, 2008, 09:44:

USA presently leases military planes and helcopters to Colombia. The maintenance of those aircrafts in Colombia are contracted out to American companies employing ex-airforce American citizens.(they are just protecting their aircraft investments). This is the way USA helps Colombia without getting their hands dirty.

Colombianos: Las armas os han dado independencia, las leyes os daran libertad. (Santander)

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Mr. Hollywood says on Jan 28, 2008, 09:52:

Reagan knew all too well how long it takes to fly to or from Nicaragua, as evidenced by both the legal and illegal aid his administration provided to the Contras.

Ortega sounds like a clown threatening Colombia.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tejasmarcos says on Jan 28, 2008, 11:33:

"USA presently leases military planes and helcopters to Colombia"

i see the choppers flying around mde from time to time. i think they are hueys....

* i have not seen a jet so far, but hear that they exist. i wonder how much equipment is down here?

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Colombiche says on Jan 28, 2008, 11:42:

Haiti is the most destitute country in the wester hemisphere, closely followed by Nicaragua and then Bolivia.

Nicaragua is so poor that the buildings in Managua are still in shambles from the earthquake in 1970.

Nicaragua has a very young population, many of the people that elected Ortega don't recall the bad times that he put them through a couple of decades ago.

No me den trago extranjero, que es caro y no sabe a bueno.... (Rafael Godoy)

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Chelesupercono says on Jan 28, 2008, 11:57:

Hi Scott!! Yes....the Army would not even show up.....Ortega what a joke.....but he is nothing more then Chazez's BITCH.......hehehehehehe

never go to bed with someone crazier then you are, you will do it and you will regret it.......

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Albatross says on Jan 28, 2008, 11:58:

"i see the choppers flying around mde from time to time. i think they are hueys....i have not seen a jet so far, but hear that they exist. i wonder how much equipment is down here"

They're mostly BlackHawk helicopters... they use gas-turbine engines which are similar to jets, but instead of the engine exhaust being used for forward thrust, (like on an airliner) the turbine is connected to a central shaft which turns the rotorhead (through an intermediate gearbox). The engine exhaust provides no thrust.

“Democracy - a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H.L. Mencken

0 funny, 0 helpful.

diabloblas says on Jan 28, 2008, 14:07:

columbiche...the earthquake was christmas of 72...i was in managua at the time...so was howard hughes...he was at the intercontinental...took refuge at somoza's palace when martial law declared & then private jet out...i was late getting back to the usa for christmas which i did back in those days...fires were still burning when i left

..the usa recognized william walker...an american filibusterer supreme...as president of nicaragua...in return he reinstitutionalized slavery...a very embarasing quid pro quo agreement i'm sure everybody who has any sense of humanity must agree...even those america right or wrong bigots that pbh seems to have more than its share of

0 funny, 0 helpful.

scotty says on Jan 28, 2008, 19:33:

you mean Ortega is still around, i thought we took care of that little twirp?

Get Rhythm, when you got the blues. Johnny Cash

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Robert Jorge says on Jan 28, 2008, 20:45:

All the choppers I saw flying out of the 7th Brigade in Villavicencio and the neighboring little airforce base were Blackhawks. I saw a few guys who were obviously gringo soldiers or spooks in clubs on weekend nights. I tried to strike up a conversation with them a couple of times, but none of them were interested in talking, and didn't say a word to me. They were easy to spot: 6 foot plus in height, white as a sheet, and they looked so awkward when trying to dance.

There are also ex military from the US who work as contactors for private companies in Colombia. I met a guy a few days ago who worked for British Petroleum. His job was to fly along the oil pipeline, looking for FARC activity. When they would find evidence of the FARC staking out an area to plant a bomb, he would call it in to the Colombian military. He also said they were allowed to fire if fired upon. I didn't ask him what kinds of weapons they had. He lived around the Bucaramanga area I believe.

BEWARE of gold diggers.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

MitchAlvarez says on Jan 28, 2008, 22:00:

Nicaragua military forces? are you kidding me? ortega in his donkey reenacting a scene from braveheart thats all i can imagine. what a joke

"Ingrid callate la jeta!! Stay in France"

0 funny, 0 helpful.