BUSH SENDS CONDOLEEZA TO COLOMBIA - IS HER TRIP ANTI- HUGO CHAVEZ?

Why is Condoleeza Rice in Colombia conferring with Colombian president Alvaro Uribe? The story is that she is pushing for some sort of free trade agreement, but the suspicion arises that she is consorting with Uribe in some sort of public relations campaign aimed at Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

Chavez recently was instrumental in getting the FARC to release two female hostages, Clara Rojas and Consuelo Gonzalez, who had each been held for over five years. If it had been left to Uribe, the two ladies might still be captives in the Colombian jungle. Uribe believes in freeing the hostages with guns and soldiers, whereas Chavez thinks that diplomacy and talk can get the job done and the hostages released.

Bush and Cheney treat Chavez as the "enemy," and they cannot be happy to see him lauded for his good diplomatic work in freeing Gonzalez and Rojas.

So the suspicion, what is Condoleeza Rice doing in Colombia if not to stir up problems for Hugo Chavez.