U.S. Fourth Fleet in Venezuelan Waters

U.S. Fourth Fleet in Venezuelan Waters

NIKOLAS KOZLOFF
Counterpunch
Monday, May 26, 2008

With U.S. saber rattling towards Venezuela now at its height, the Pentagon has decided to reactivate the Navyâ??s fourth fleet in the Caribbean, Central and South America.

Itâ??s a bold move, and has already stirred controversy within the wider region.

The fleet, which will start patrolling in July, will be based at the Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville, Florida and will answer to the U.S. Southern Command in Miami. Rear Admiral Joseph Keran, current commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command, will oversee operations. About 11 vessels are currently under the Southern Command, a number that could increase in future. The Navy plans to assign a nuclear-powered air craft carrier, USS George Washington, to the force.

Itâ??s difficult to see how the revival of the Fourth Fleet is warranted at the present time. The move has only served to further antagonize Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, already rattled by a U.S. navy planeâ??s violation of Venezuelan airspace over the weekend. In the long-term, the Pentagonâ??s saber rattling may encourage South American militaries to assert great independence from Washington, a trend which is already well under way as I discuss in my new book, Revolution! South America and the Rise of the New Left (Palgrave-Macmillan).

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Reacting angrily to the Navyâ??s announcement, Chávez said: ``They don't scare us in the least.'' Chávez remarked that ``along with Brazil we're studying the creation of a South American Defense Council'' which would defend South America from foreign intervention. â??If a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) exists,â?� the Venezuelan leader postulated, â??why canâ??t a SATO exist, a South Atlantic Treaty Organization?"

Though the resuscitation of the Fourth Fleet has led many to believe that the U.S. is pursuing a course of gunboat diplomacy in the region, there was a time when the force arguably served a real need. What is the history of the Fourth Fleet in Venezuelan waters?

Venezuela in World War II

On the eve of the Second World War, Venezuela was the worldâ??s leading oil exporter and during the conflict the oil rich Maracaibo fields, located in the westernmost Venezuelan state of Zulia, were considered a crucial resource for both the axis and allied powers.

British and American oil subsidiaries of Royal Dutch Shell, Standard Oil and Gulf had in fact long operated in the Maracaibo Basin prior to the outbreak of European hostilities. Transportation of crude from Jersey Standardâ??s producing fields in Lake Maracaibo region was carried out through use of specially constructed shallow draft tankers. A refinery owned by Royal Dutch Shell located on the island of Aruba, which processed Maracaibo crude, was strategically important as it supplied products not only to Britain but also to France.

In 1940, Britain received fully 40 percent of her total oil imports from Venezuela, and during the first years of the war that total jumped to as high as 80 percent. Venezuelan oil also represented a vital commodity for the Nazis and the ability of the German state to wage war in Europe. As late as 1938, oil produced from Aruba, Curacao and Venezuela accounted for 44 percent of German oil imports. Germany did not buy oil directly from Venezuela but from U.S. and British-Dutch oil companies which shipped Venezuelan crude to refineries in Aruba and Curacao and then sold the final product in Europe. Venezuelan-German trade remained at normal levels but ended abruptly in September 1939 with the beginning of the British naval blockade of Germany.

By 1940, with Britain increasingly isolated as the result of German attack and prior to the entrance of the U.S. into the war, Venezuelan sentiment was bitterly anti-German. Meanwhile Venezuela moved into the U.S. orbit and became a chief recipient of American economic aid. U.S. military officials preferred that Venezuela publicly stay neutral in an effort to preempt any German moves to shell Venezuelaâ??s coast.

Venezuelan neutrality however was a mere legal fiction: in reality, the South American nation had granted U.S. ships and airplanes special access to ports and airstrips. Two days after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Venezuela declared its solidarity with the United States and on December 31, 1941 the Andean nation severed relations with the Axis powers.

Operation â??Roll of Drumsâ?�

It wasnâ??t long before the Venezuelan governmentâ??s decision to sell oil to the allies resulted in Nazi counter measures. On December 12, 1941 Hitler met with his naval advisers and approved PAUKENSCHLAG or â??ROLL OF DRUMSâ?� a U-boat operation in Western Atlantic/Caribbean waters. In February, 1942 German submarines plied the Caribbean, sinking 25 tankers in one month.

The Nazis were chiefly concerned with the Dutch islands of Curacao and Aruba, Dutch colonies where U.S. forces had set up defensive fortifications in order to protect refineries processing Venezuelan crude from Maracaibo (with an estimated crude capacity of 480,000 barrels a day, the Aruba refinery, owned by Standard Oil of New Jersey, and the Curacao refinery, owned by Royal Dutch Shell, outranked Abadan in Iran with 250,000 barrels; the Baku complex in the U.S.S.R. with about 230,000 barrels; and the largest plants in the United States at Baytown, Port Arthur, Bayonne, Baton Rouge, and Whiting with over 100,000 barrels each).

On 15 February 1942, a convoy of oil tankers and ships left the Maracaibo Bar. The first ships in line were the â??Monagas,â?? of the Mene Grande Oil Company, followed by the â??Tia Juanaâ?? and â??Pedernalesâ?? both belonging to the Lago Petroleum Corporation. These tankers were followed by the â??Rafaelaâ?? belonging to Shell, and the â??San Nicolasâ??and â??Orangestad,â?? belonging to Lago Oil and Transport Co, based in Aruba. A number of other tankers joined the column.


German U-Boat Attack and Creation of the U.S. Fourth Fleet

Suddenly a German U-boat torpedoed the â??Monagasâ?? which sank immediately. The tankers â??Tia Juana,â?? â??Pedernales,â?? â??Rafaela,â?? â??San Nicolas,â?? and â??Orangestadâ?? were also hit and sustained casualties. On the same day, the oil refinery on Aruba was attacked by German submarine shellfire. The political fallout from the attack was predictable: soon, angry street protesters hit the streets of Caracas, denouncing German aggression.

In response to stepped up German escalation in the Caribbean, the U.S. Navy created the Fourth Fleet to hunt submarines in the South Atlantic. The U.S. moves came none too soon: as the naval war raged in the Caribbean, Venezuela suffered tremendous economic losses. As a result of the lost tankers, production in the Lake Maracaibo Basin had to be cut back by nearly 100,000 tons of crude daily. By July 1942 the situation was still dire, with tankers operating at only one-third their average capacity of 30,000 barrels.

German attacks on the Aruba refinery marked the beginning of the Battle of the Caribbean. It wasnâ??t until August, 1943 that the Fourth Fleet was able to turn the tables on the submarine menace in Venezuelan waters. In 1950, with German U-boats now long gone, the U.S. Navy disbanded the fleet.


Reviving the Fourth Fleet

The Navy claims that it needs to resuscitate the Fourth Fleet now to combat terrorism, to keep the economic sea lanes of communication free and open, to counter illicit trafficking and to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

However, the move comes at a particularly sensitive moment within the region. U.S. ally Colombia launched a deadly raid across the Ecuadoran border in March, killing 16 members of the FARC guerilla insurgency including the organizationâ??s number two, Raúl Reyes. Last weekend, Chávez accused Colombia of launching a cross-border incursion, while the Pentagon routinely lambastes Venezuela for its arms buildup including acquisition of high performance fighter aircraft, attack helicopters and diesel submarines.

Unlike the Second World War, when many South Americans welcomed the Fourth Fleet in Caribbean waters, some view the current U.S. naval presence as a veiled threat directed at the regionâ??s new Pink Tide countries. In an interview with Cuban television, Bolivian President Evo Morales remarked that the U.S. naval force constituted "the Fourth Fleet of intervention."

Cubaâ??s former leader Fidel Castro has asked why the U.S. has sought to revive the Fourth Fleet at this precise moment. Writing in the Cuban newspaper Granma, Castro suggested that the move constituted a return to U.S. gunboat diplomacy. Castro, whose island nation confronted a U.S. naval blockade during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, remarked "The aircraft carriers and nuclear bombs that threaten our countries are used to sow terror and death, but not to combat terrorism and illegal activities.â?�

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Originally Posted by texas grass

The Navy plans to assign a nuclear-powered air craft carrier, USS George Washington, to the force.

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Stavridis said the fleet's objectives included training exercises and humanitarian relief, adding: "It is strictly for planning and training.

"When the IV Fleet executes one of the missions that I mention, it will do so with ships that are given to it by the US Navy, for that mission. There is no aircraft carrier in the IV Fleet."
AFP: US admiral reassures LatAm military on fleet deployment

VALPARAISO, Chile (NNS) -- Sailors from the George Washington Carrier Strike Group (GWCSG) participated in a series of community relations (COMREL) projects May 15-16, while on a four-day scheduled port visit in Valparaiso.

Sailors from USS George Washington (CVN 73) (GW) and USS Kauffman (FFG 59) cleaned and painted at eight different sites, including schools and children's homes, as part of their deployment in support of Partnership of the Americas (POA) 2008.

U.S. Ambassador to Chile, Paul Simons, as well as local officials and members of the Chilean media, also turned out to be part of the day's events.

"I think it shows the generosity of the American people," Simons said. "The fact that these young Sailors are prepared to get up at the crack of dawn to help do this type of charitable work shows the positive side of the American character and the positive side of the United States Navy," Simons said, praising the volunteers for their work.
GWCSG Sailors Lend a Helping Hand to Valparaiso Children

TOKYO (AP) â?? Japanese seeking to block a nuclear-powered U.S. warship from being permanently based in Japan took their lawsuit to a higher court Monday.

The latest move by the 248 plaintiffs follows the May 12 rejection by a district court of their lawsuit demanding a halt to harbor work to accommodate the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which is scheduled to be based at Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, starting August.
The Associated Press: Japanese file appeal against US aircraft carrier

Since they were giving humanitarian aid to Chili some left winger decides that this is part of the rivived 4th fleet. Pretty clear since Japans left wingers are complaining about this aircraft carrier being permanently based in Japan. Kind of a long ways from being IN Venezuelan waters.

Have a good one!:jointsmile:

Here we go again. Butting into something thats none of our business. We'll keep provoking them till they make an agressive move and then its all there fault when in reality we intiated it. Just like we've done around the world. Iraq. Never would have been a problem if we hadn't kept stirring up the trouble.

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Originally Posted by killerweed420

Here we go again. Butting into something thats none of our business.

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"Sailors from USS George Washington (CVN 73) (GW) and USS Kauffman (FFG 59) cleaned and painted at eight different sites, including schools and children's homes, as part of their deployment in support of Partnership of the Americas (POA) 2008."
GWCSG Sailors Lend a Helping Hand to Valparaiso Children

"These small collapses which generate minor flows of pyroclastic material are normal, they are not that serious in that they affect a small area, the top part of the volcano," Lara said.

"But that doesn't make the worst case scenario disappear," he said. "As long as the eruptive column is high in the air, (a major collapse) is a possibility."

Thousands of people have been evacuated from within a 30-mile (50 km) radius of Chaiten volcano, 760 miles (1,220 km) south of the capital Santiago.
Vast Chile volcano ash cloud partially collapses | Reuters

Unless your stating that the U.S. has no business in providing humanitarian aid it doesn't make sense. This thread should be named, "Friends for Chavez".

Have a good one!:s4:

'Planned US base in Colombia offensive'
Thu, 15 May 2008 13:41:37
President Hugo Chavez
Hugo Chavez warns the Colombian government against allowing the US set up a military base on its joint borders with neighboring Venezuela.

The Venezuelan president said on Wednesday that he would consider such measure as an act of an "aggression", AP reported.

In the message, President Chavez has underlined that he would not let Colombia establish an American military base in La Guajira, northeastern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela.

Chavez said if Colombia allows the launch of the military base in that region, his government will revive a decades-old territorial conflict which might engulf the whole region.

"We will not allow the Colombian government to give La Guajira to the empire," Chavez said, referring to the US during a speech to a packed auditorium of uniformed soldiers. "Colombia is launching a threat of war at us."

US Ambassador William Brownfield had recently suggested that a US military base in Ecuador could be moved to La Guajira.

MSM/MMN



this also goes along why we have our 4th fleet goin back to south america and possibly the uss george washington

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Originally Posted by texas grass

The Venezuelan president said on Wednesday that he would consider such measure as an act of an "aggression", AP reported.

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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuelan troops mobilized for the Colombian border on Tuesday after President Hugo Chavez ordered 10 battalions to the frontier.

Hundreds of Venezuelan troops were seen boarding four buses and eight trucks at the Paramaracay base in the central city of Valencia on Tuesday morning. A helicopter flew overhead.

A base official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they were heading for the Colombian border, though she didn't specify the location.

Wonder if Hugo would call his own actions that of aggression?

Have a good one!:s4: