Yes, and let's pretend that it isn't the United States that is the major customer - free market, you know - supply and demand. There wouldn't be a supply if there weren't a demand.The United States said on Friday that it had revoked the visas for three high-ranking Venezuelan military officers suspected of drug trafficking, prompting President Hugo Chávez's government to retaliate by promising to withdraw diplomatic immunity for American narcotics agents in Venezuela.
"For every attack, there will be a reaction; for every strike, a strike back; for every measure, a corresponding measure; and the revoking of visas will mean reciprocal action," Vice President José Vicente Rangel told reporters in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, he added, "has functioned in Venezuela with diplomatic immunity because they operate as employees of the U.S. Embassy. That privilege is over."[...]
Mr. Rangel called the decision to pull the visas political and hailed the officers' service as "impeccable." The American accusations, he said were "grave and inconsiderate."
"To reach that conclusion you have to have a trial," he said of the accusations. "I think it's an irresponsibility on the part of the United States."
American officials, though, have raised serious concerns for months about what they say is a spike in trafficking through Venezuela, which does not produce cocaine but is considered a major conduit country.
And while we're at it, let's pretend that the CIA isn't involved in drug trafficking.
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