The Dutch Prime Minister has hit back at the Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez over accusations that the Netherlands is helping to stage a military strike against his country.
Click HERE to watch the interview in full.
During an exclusive television interview with Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Jan Peter Balkenende dismissed as pure fiction Mr Chávez’s allegations that US war planes were being deployed in the neighbouring Dutch Antilles as part of a planned attack.
“The President really shouldn’t use these words. He’s talking nonsense,” Mr Balkenende told RNW. “We know what these planes are for, they are being used to combat drug trafficking.”
Mr Chávez made his allegations during a recent television interview, saying: “We accuse the American and the Dutch governments of provoking Venezuela and planning aggression.” Mr Chávez showed a photograph of a US P3 warplane as proof, but Mr Balkenende said that the picture had been “taken from Wikipedia” and was dated from 2002. “So please, don’t use old pictures, Mr Chávez. If there are serious complaints, let’s talk about them properly.”
US must ‘get out of Haiti eventually’
The Dutch leader also addressed criticism over humanitarian efforts in Haiti, and over the overwhelming presence of the US military there. Nearly 20,000 soldiers will be deployed by the end of the week, amid concerns that Washington is trying to tighten its grip on the disaster-struck island, the main transit route for drugs into the US.
“We need the Americans now, it’s inevitable,” he said. “But in the longer run, the UN must take over responsibility.”
Fundraising
On Thursday, Mr Balkenende took part in a massive national fundraising effort for Haiti that raised over 83 million euros. Responding to fears that this money could later be used to prop up a corrupt state, Mr Balkenende vowed that the Dutch authorities would control spending of the funds. “We need proof of how this money is spent and we will demand it,” he said.
In this fourth interview with RNW, Mr Balkenende also touched on the current political storm over an inquiry into the outbreak of the Iraq war, but he dismissed suggestions that his government could collapse over the issue.
Email this Article
Printer-friendly version
The Netherlands would be happy, for sure, when the day comes that the "Dutch" Antilles would be independent, and that no more millions of Euros would be invested in those islands.
The Dutch Primer Minister is right on point. Hugo Chavez thinks he is the " Liberator" of Latin America.
Actually, he is the destroyer of his own country, and he uses foreign politics to divert attention from his disastrous national policy.
Chavez must be under the impression that in lieu of a successful Dutch invasion of Venezuela, Geert Wilders would be named as the Govenor of the newly occupied territory. Why else would Chavez be crying scared to the international community? Nice to hear from you, Vera. David Berridge.
In a nutshell Mr. Kross has exposed the still ongoing Dutch colonialism. The Dutch are occupying the so-called Netherlands Antilles for 400 years now. The Dutch are an integrated member of American-Dutch-Anglo North-Western imperialism. As such are participating in wars of agression and colonial occupation all over the world. The Dutch and American military bases in Aruba and Curaçao are strategic in the Dutch-American imperialistic control over strategic resources in the Caribbean and Latin America like oil, natural gas, water, minerals. Recently the US Geological Service estimated Venezuelan oil reserves at 2x the reserves of Saoudi Arabia. The Dutch and Americans are using these military bases in occupied Antillean territory to destabilize, assault and invade Venezuela in order to control and exploit the vast oil reserves in Venezuela.
Balkenende condones the military OCCUPATION OF HAITI and participates fully in it with DUTCH MARINES stationed on COLONIALLY OCCUPIED soil of the Antilles. HOLLAND abuses the Haitian disaster by openly STEALING AND SELLING CHILDREN of Haiti under the pretext of humanitarian aid. HOLLAND under Balkenende is aiming at the OIL and NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS of the Antilles and Aruba and Venezuela.
Balkenende is telling LIES again.Under his leadership the NETHERLANDS(HOLLAND), a US-puppet NARCO state is committing agression against Venezuela from the Antilles, COLONIALLY OCCUPIED by the DUTCH. The Dutch occupying forces are heavily involved in DRUGS TRAFFICKING from the Antilles to Europe and the US. Balkenende is an enthousiastic admirer of the history of the CONCENTRATION CAMP based EXPLOITATION of the Antilles. HOLLAND MUST IMMEDIATELY CEASE ITS COLONIAL OCCUPATION OF THE ANTILLES, RECOGNIZE THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE ANTILLES AND PAY ADEQUATE INDEMNIFICATION !
ALL foreign troops should leave Haiti. It is a free and independent nation. Taking advantage of such a tragedy in order to occupy it is despicable. Using the excuse that the occupation would stop drug traffic into the US is even more despicable. If there were not such big demand/consumption of drugs in the US, there would be no need to traffic them.