U.S. FANNING SOUTH AMERICAN FLAMES?

IN THE fall, President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia and President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela were on cordial terms discussing the release of hostages long held by FARC rebels in Colombia.

It was a shock to no one that Chavez, a leftist, had contacts with these rebels - in fact, that was what made the hostage deal possible. The hostages included a presidential candidate and several U.S. civilian workers.

Then, suddenly, Uribe became hostile, talks stopped and the deal was off. Words were exchanged. Fortunately, in the end, six of the hostages were freed.

Now, thanks to a deadly cross-border Colombian military raid into Ecuador, what had been a hopeful olive branch in the long, intractable hostage drama has turned into a potentially devastating military standoff between Ecuador and Venezuela on one side and Colombia and the United States on the other.

It's hard to say what went wrong, and hard to figure out exactly what's real, and what's saber-rattling. What we know is Colombian jets attacked a FARC camp inside Ecuador and killed high-profile rebel Raul Reyes.

Last week, Ecuador and Venezuela withdrew their ambassadors to Colombia and both massed troops on the Colombian border, although tensions eased after an apology by Colombia, which has complained for some time that Venezuela and Ecuador have become a FARC sanctuary.

Not surprisingly, given his animosity toward Chavez, President Bush weighed in and said, "America fully supports Colombia's democracy," the implication being that the Chavez regime is a tyranny threatening democracy in Colombia.

But the fact is that Colombia is notorious for its right-wing political violence and human-rights abuses, while the Chavez regime has been elected in four fully monitored, clean elections and is indisputably a "democratic" regime through 2014.

We are told the Colombian government is going to take the Venezuelan government to the International Criminal Court for its alleged support of FARC, labeled by both the Colombian and U.S. governments as a "terrorist" organization. Colombia claims the dead rebel Reyes' laptop contained documents showing the FARC wanted to import uranium for dirty bombs.

There is a fetid odor emanating from this crisis that is made all the worse when you consider the shameful past of U.S. intervention in Latin America, a past that is a direct cause of the political rise of Hugo Chavez.

The Bush administration suggests Chavez is moving troops to the border to distract from economic problems in Venezuela and his falling popularity. While there may be something to that, there is the equally compelling possibility that the Bush administration is secretly up to its neck in this episode. Everyone, including the CIA, knows that Chavez - from his audacious '92 coup to his challenging remarks about Bush at the United Nations - is quick to react when it comes to anything smelling of U.S. intervention.

TRUE TO form, Chavez said during the crisis that Colombia was "the Israel of Latin America." His point was that both Israel and Colombia are highly militarized, well-financed U.S. allies, and Uribe does nothing without consulting the United States.

So it's not surprising how quickly President Bush demonized Venezuela and, how easily that demonization has been established in the "objective" press and in the American mindset.

Chavez wants FARC to be re-labeled an "insurgent" rather than a "terrorist" organization, the latter term being fundamental to the demonizing process.

Many see guerrilla elements like FARC as insurgencies that, while violent and imperfect in the realm of human rights, represent legitimate beefs by the poor against a ruling elite. And since both right and left paramilitaries are mixed up in the Colombian drug trade, it's simply selective to damn the FARC for this.

The fact is, there are unhappy opposition elements in both Colombia and Venezuela. The opposition in Venezuela rose in reaction to Chavez and includes many rich people and friends of the American right. In 2002, these folks organized a failed coup against Chavez, a coup that documents show elements in the United States knew of. The opposition in Colombia has a record of resistance to the ruling elite and activism for the poor.

To continue to label opposition elements like the FARC in Colombia as "terrorists" while supporting the opposition in Venezuela can only lead to greater tension and possible all-out war in South America.

The current crisis is a case in point. It would be a regrettable tragedy in a long line of such tragedies if Americans took their eyes off the ball in South America and allowed mistrust and war fever to be manipulated on the Venezuela-Colombia border.

It's unclear now what the Bush administration's interests and involvement are in this episode. But it would be unfortunate to learn too late that elements of our government were involved in fanning the flames for perceived national interests. U.S. legislators and citizens need to keep an open mind and treat the opposing parties fairly as they work to cool the flames. *

John Grant is a Vietnam veteran and a member of Veterans for Peace. He traveled in Venezuela in June.