Who's Down for OPV?

Always good to have another post about Colombia. Not my usual Colombian post, but more nautical.

There is a niche between our PC and our LCS that simply does not get as much respect as it should. Shame, a great platform with a lot of utility, and even better - a great LT/LCDR Command. Not sure it fits USN requirements, but good people can argue both sides, and in any event - shouldn't stop us from looking at them in detail.

First, I don't like the programmatic speak of "OPV." I would prefer the archaic word to be used for the modern day Sloop-of-War, but for now, the Offshore Patrol Vessel it is. Let's look at one example.

What can it do? Get your globe out.

On Saturday 8th August 2015, Colombian warship, ARC 7 de Agosto, arrived in the Gulf of Aden to start her counter-piracy operations in close collaboration with Operation Atalanta.
...
The Colombian warship will work together with the EU Naval Force in escorting and protecting World Food Programme (WFP) vessels and vulnerable shipping along the Somali coastline and also help to deter and disrupt any acts of piracy in the Gulf of Aden, the EU Navfor said. 

... 

7 de Agosto sailed from Cartagena on 27 June and will deploy for five-months. ARC 7 de Agusto is the second of Colombia’s three 1 723 ton OPV-80 designs built in Colombia by COTECMAR in Cartagena. The vessels has a crew of 85 and is armed with a 40 mm Oto Melara 40L70 twin gun, a 20 mm Oerlikon GAM-BO1 gun, and two Thor T-12 Remote Controlled Weapons Stations (RCWS). The T-12 RCWS includes a .50-calibre M2HB machine gun linked to a Controp SHAPO maritime day/night observation system.

For interdiction the vessels is equipped with two boats and a medium sized Bell helicopter.

That is a Fassmer OPV-80 Class warship. A solid German design used by the Colombian, Argentinian, and Chilean navies. 

Another German builder, Lürssen, has some nice designs as well. There whole catalog is full of goodness. More details on the OPV-80 here, and Chuck has done some good work on the class too if you have not read it.

Cost? You don't want the cost, do you? Well ... numbers are all over place, but the most reported I see is $54 million as constructed in S. America. 

Nice looking ship.

You can get another feel for the class via this Chilean Navy video;

COIN, Colombian Style

In, ahem, a variety of areas - I've been an advocate for years of looking to Colombia to see what works. From Riverine to COIN - there is a lot in that nation that is being done right.

The 50-year-old Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), once considered the best-funded insurgency in the world, is at its smallest and most vulnerable state in decades, due in part to a CIA covert action program that has helped Colombian forces kill at least two dozen rebel leaders, according to interviews with more than 30 former and current U.S. and Colombian officials.

The secret assistance, which also includes substantial eavesdropping help from the National Security Agency, is funded through a multibillion-dollar black budget. It is not a part of the public $9 billion package of mostly U.S. military aid called Plan Colombia, which began in 2000.

You need to read the whole thing - it is that good of an overview.

... and yes; because we are talking about Colombia, I don't want to let anyone down as you try to get ready for New Year's Eve.

You know one of Salamander's Truisms ... the ideal female body shape can be found in abundance in only one place - Colombia!

Of course ... (this isn't unsafe for work, per se ... but if you have harpies morale-sponges nearby - you may want to be subtle)

I join Skippy in OUTRAGE!!!!!

... that this women is being attacked for her public service like this ...

Miss Universe officials have a message for Catalina Robayo, Colombia's entry into Monday's contest: Don't forget to wear underwear.

Robayo, one of 89 beauties from around the world competing to win the Donald Trump-owned contest, has been reprimanded for making appearance in tiny skirts - with no panties.

"Colombia had to be spoken to and told she needed to wear underpants as what she was doing was totally inappropriate," a source told Fox News. "People have been pretty upset by it; there have been photos and media appearances where she has completely had her crotch out."

How dare they display such cultural insensitivity. Colombian women going commando, well - it is a critical part if not Colombian culture ... then ... at least to mine.

VIVA CATALINA ROBAYO!!!

(now I feel guilty and must go PT)

Hat tip SP and the Colombian Women Fan Club.

Viva Colombia!!!

It has been awhile since I reminded everyone why my favorite South American nation is Colombia, and why I fully support as much legal immigration and work visa programs from that great nation as possible.

Sure, they are a shining jewel of the power of democracy in that part of the world, and their military pound for pound is one of the best in the hemisphere ... but I have other reasons.

Here are four. There are 32 total in this group of queens that my facebook pal Diego Torres sent me ... but really - do you need more?

Sigh, only one life a mere mortal has. Eeeny, meany, miney, moe.

4v4.

LBG break right, MTH take the left. URR and I are going up the middle - I'll veer left, URR you veer right.

Deal? Oh, Byron and AW1, go get us some beer - we're running low.

Just leave them at the table, then run interference with these gals, ok? Be a pal.

Andrew, don't go anywhere - we'll find something for 'ya.

THAT is Strategic thinking

SECDEF - again - nails it center mass.

Defense Department officials have favored the pact as a way to reward Colombia for its successful effort at beating back drug trafficking and the country's insurgency.

At a news conference in Bogota, the Colombian capital, Gates said he met this week with James L. Jones, the White House national security advisor, to discuss an administration push for congressional ratification of the accord.

"I would hope we would be in a position to make a renewed effort to get ratification of the free trade agreement," Gates said. "It is a good deal for Colombia; it is also a good deal for the United States."

President Obama was skeptical about the agreement as a senator and during his presidential campaign, citing Colombia's record of labor crackdowns. But after meeting last year with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Obama said Bogota had made progress on human rights issues and ordered U.S. trade officials to move ahead on the deal.

Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva said Bogota was pleased by the Obama administration's growing support for the accord.

"This agreement will help further consolidate security in Colombia," Silva said.

Colombia has been a bright shining example of the progress of freedom in the last two decades.

This isn't an American issue - this is a human rights issue. Along with Chile, Panama, Costa Rica, and Honduras - among others to the south - Colombia deserves our friendship and help. This is easy. This is right.

This will also help make up for some of the interventions we have made in the past. Treat your friends as equals and they will be your friends.

Easy win ... if we can get past our own leftists.

Oh, and if you follow the Colombia tag, you will find other reasons to get, ahem, closer to Colombia. LBG can explain further if needed.

Tito Munoz for Congress in 2010!!!

Virginia - you need this man in Congress - and I am not saying that just because I am such a fan of Colombians.

After McCain left, as the crowd filed out, Munoz made his way to an area near some loudspeakers. He attracted a few reporters when he started talking loudly, in heavily-accented English, about media mistreatment of Wurzelbacher. (It was clear that Spanish was Munoz’s native language, and he later told me he was born in Colombia.) When I first made my way over to him, Munoz thought I was there to give him the third degree.

"Are you going to check my license, too?” he asked me. “Are you going to check my immigration status? I’m ready, I have everything here. Whatever you want, I have it. I have my green card, I have my passport — “

I was a little surprised. Did Munoz really bring his papers with him to a McCain rally? I asked.

“Yeah, I have my papers right here,” he said. “I’m an American citizen. Right here, right here.” With that, he produced a U.S. passport, turned it to the page with his picture on it, and thrust it about an inch from my nose. “Right here,” he said. “In your face.”

Munoz said he owned a small construction business. “I have a license, if you guys want to check,” he said.

Someone asked why Munoz had come to the rally. “I support McCain, but I’ve come to face you guys because I’m disgusted with you guys,” he said. “Why the hell are you going after Joe the Plumber? Joe the Plumber has an idea. He has a future. He wants to be something else. Why is that wrong? Everything is possible in America. I made it. Joe the Plumber could make it even better than me….I was born in Colombia, but I was made in the U.S.A.”

Read all of Byron York's article so you can find out why we might want to find a District for Connie to run in as well - or simply raise you hands from the keyboard and hollar AMEN!

Note to the McCain campaign. Find Tito the Builder and get him out there - somehow - just think about it.

Che t-shirts for VICTORY!!!!

Oh what a glory of glories - finally Che has done something good in his life. LMAO.

The rescuers came wearing Che Guevara T-shirts and logos declaring them delegates of some obscure organization.

They didn't look much like an international humanitarian brigade. And they weren't.

They were the Colombian intelligence agents who pulled off ''Operation Checkmate,'' one of the greatest military capers in Colombia's history -- a mission that would finally liberate the world's most famous hostage from the hands of leftist rebels in the jungle.

Without firing a single shot.

What an incredible military operation. Truly demonstrates the first class nature of the Colombian military and intel services. Read it all,

Betancourt said the hostages thought they were being picked up by some kind of international humanitarian organization to be taken to the FARC high command.

''Our hearts broke. More captivity. Another transfer,'' Betancourt said in a dramatic press conference minutes after embracing her mother. ``Every time we heard helicopters my pulse would race. Run, hide, gather your things. But this helicopter was white. It was exciting.

''It was surreal,'' Betancourt said, describing the bizarre white helicopter and the strangely dressed men who came for her. ``They had logos that certified they were a delegation of who-knows-what.''

She and the others were handcuffed as they boarded the chopper, which she described as ''humiliating.'' Once aboard, something happened so fast Betancourt missed it.

But then she saw ''César'' -- the ''cruel despot'' who guarded her -- subdued on the floor of the helicopter. The pilots turned and said the words she and the others had waited so long for:

``We are from the army. You are free.''

Any time you get a chance to kick Commies in the nuts is a good day.

Action trumps talk

Bravo Zulu to the Colombians.

Colombia said its military rescued former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, three U.S. military contractors and 11 other hostages from leftist rebels on Wednesday.

Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos says no one was hurt in the operation in eastern Colombia.

He said army commandos captured rebels manning a security ring around the hostages and got them to persuade their comrades to turn over the captives, without any loss of life.

Santos says the other 11 hostages freed were Colombian soldiers and police.

Betancourt, the Americans Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell, and the other hostages were taken to a military base.

In Paris, Betancourt's son Lorenzo Delloye-Betancourt called her release after six years of captivity, "if true, the most beautiful news of my life."

There was no answer at the homes of American families of the three U.S. hostages.

On of the great untold stories of the last decade - the transformation of the Colombian government into a vibrant functioning democracy, the long march to purging the drug corruption out of its national system, and the professional development of its military.

Will Hugo go?

Venezuela moves 10 Divisions to the Colombian border; Ecuador deploys additional troops to the Colombian border as well. Why?

Well, Colombia did what it had to do and gave the #2 FARC leader what all Communist terrorists deserve, 62gr of justice.

A top commander of Colombia's left-wing guerrillas the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) has been killed in combat, the government says.

Colombia's Defence Minister described the death of Raul Reyes as the "biggest blow so far" to Farc.

Reyes, 59, also known as Luis Edgar Devia, is the first member of Farc's ruling secretariat to be killed in combat in the group's 44-year history.

He died with 16 other rebels during an attack near the Ecuadorian border.

Reyes was killed in an air raid followed by a ground operation, Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said on Saturday.

The rebels had been in a camp 1.8km (1 mile) on the Ecuadorian side of the border across from the province of Putumayo when the attack was called in, Mr Santos said.

No. Like anyone who has been in a bar fight in South Florida will tell you - there will be much posturing, yelling, and chest thumping - but with the 300# Bubba named Sam sitting at the bar watching the two bantam weight Latins facing each other off - Hugo won't throw the first punch.

Do the right thing for Colombia

Because it is good news where both Republicans and Democrats are working together against Communists and retrograde Unions - you may not have heard about SECSTATE's visit with members of Congress to Colombia.

The Bush administration is mounting an "unprecedented campaign" for Congress to pass the pending U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement, concerned that foot-dragging could send a message abroad that Washington can't keep its commitments to allies.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice led a delegation of Democratic lawmakers to Colombia this weekend to promote the agreement.

In all, six Cabinet secretaries are slated to lead lawmakers to the South American nation through March to push the accord that was signed in 2006 but still lacks congressional approval, U.S. officials said.

Colombian officials also are making the U.S. rounds, with South Florida a key stop. Vice President Francisco Santos met Monday with officials from Miami-Dade County, which passed a resolution last fall backing the pact to boost commerce with a key business partner.

Colombia ranked as South Florida's fourth-largest trade partner in 2006, with $4.4 billion in goods traded, up 11.3 percent from the previous year, according to the latest full-year data from the U.S. Commerce Department.

U.S. unions, including the AFL-CIO, have rejected free trade with Colombia, citing violence against labor leaders there. Many Democrats have withheld support because of union concerns.

But Chris Padilla, assistant secretary of commerce for export administration, said violence has dropped in Colombia in recent years, both against labor leaders and in general. Under conservative President Alvaro Uribe, the Andean nation of 44 million residents has transformed, with murders and kidnappings down, investment up and the economy posting its best performance in decades.

"It would be a foreign policy mistake of colossal proportions if we are to turn our back on an ally that has made such remarkable progress," Padilla said during a Miami visit Thursday. "It would send a message that those committed to freedom and democracy in this hemisphere can't rely on the United States as a friend."

South Florida's trade community and many U.S. business groups also back the agreement as a way to expand U.S. exports, noting that recent free trade accords with Chile, Mexico and other nations have energized U.S. sales to those nations.

Advocates note that Colombia already sells most of its goods duty-free to the United States under existing trade laws, so the pact would mainly expand market access for U.S. goods and services in Colombia. Many also cite strategic reasons to support a U.S. ally.

"We're pulling out all the stops for the Colombia free trade agreement," Frank Vargo, vice president at the National Association of Manufacturers, said Monday. "There will be a lot of fireworks, lightning and thunder, but I believe it can pass before the elections."

Colombia is a solid democracy, a good friend, and the Colombian people love Americans. The fact they, by their economy, freedom, and progress put the lie to Hugo next door, just makes them more deserving of a Free Trade Agreement. Ask Walter and Patricia at The Latino Grill. Video here.

Next time, just kill him

I'm sorry, anyone who is a leader of a Marxist or Maoist Revolutionary cell is just like a leader of a Islamist terror organization; don't capture them if you ever think they will see the light of day again. Just kill them. They will lie, cheat and steal to get free again, and when they do - they will do their best to attack you and kill those you are supposed to protect.

Playing Charlie Brown to FARC's Lucy; Colombia and France thought you could make a deal with these people - with the expected results.

A Colombian Marxist guerrilla leader released this month from a prison north of the capital of Bogota at the request of new French President Nicolas Sarkozy has embarrassed both Mr. Sarkozy and President Alvaro Uribe by calling on guerrillas to keep fighting.

"I will never demobilize or call for an end to armed struggle until our objectives are met," said Rodrigo Granda, foreign minister for the rebel movement, in an interview published by the French newspaper Liberation.

It was hoped that his release would be an inducement to help free more than 1,000 hostages held by the rebels.

The hoped-for hostage swap would include a former French-Colombian presidential candidate, Ingrid Betancourt, and three American defense contractors.

Mr. Uribe accused Mr. Granda of failing to live up to his promise to make a public call for peace and for the demobilization of his group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The leftist group has been fighting Colombia governments for more than four decades.

Next time, just a bullet to the forehead will be just fine; then move on to the next in line. Guerrilla war is different than guerrilla crime.

This is varsity football people; cowboy up - take lessons from the men Michael Yon are with.

Our hostages held by terrorists seen

No, I'm not talking about our soldiers in Iraq.

Did you know that the Communist Terrorists in Colombia are holding three Americans hostage - and have been for years? Almost 4 years?

Relatives of kidnap victims call it "proof of life."

Almost four years have passed since Gene and Lynne Stansell received any confirmation that their son, Keith, a U.S. defense contractor who was taken hostage by left-wing guerrillas in Colombia, was still alive.

Then Wednesday out of the jungle emerged a bare-boned Jhon Frank Pinchao, a Colombian policeman who had spent almost nine years as a prisoner of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

At a press conference Pinchao said he escaped from the same FARC camp where Stansell, 42, and two other American defense contractors, Thomas Howes and Marc Gonsalves, are held.

All were alive and in good spirits, Pinchao said.

Yes, dear, there are still Communists soaked in blood and ignored by the Leftists and their fellow travelers.

Think of all the airtime to Abu Ghraib, and then read about what is happening for a former Presidential Candidate and her running mate. What is the percentage? Simple; Abu Ghraib gets you 3,320 in googlenews - Keith Stansell, Thomas Howes, and Marc Gonsalves will get you 49. 1.5% as important? THAT much less? At this stage of the game? 60 Minutes II did something on them a few years ago, and a indie documentary done - but that is it.

Time did an Abu Ghraib article as recent as 18 MAY.

Former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt is forced to sleep chained by her neck as punishment for having tried to escape from her rebel captors five times, an escaped hostage told family members of the dual French-Colombian citizen.
...
Betancourt was chained by the neck to other prisoners every night -- and sometimes for 24 hours at a time -- in order to prevent her from escaping, family members present at the meeting told The Associated Press on Friday.

"They're treating her like an animal," said her husband, Juan Carlos Lecompte, adding that he feared her captors would harshen their treatment of the hostages following Pinchao's escape. "The guerrillas lie when they say they're treating women and prisoners humanely."

Pinchao, he said, was kept with Betancourt for almost three years.

Betancourt was kidnapped in 2002 while campaigning for the presidency on a leftist ticket in southern Colombia, a longtime rebel stronghold.

In 2003, the FARC sent a proof-of-life video of Betancourt and her running mate Clara Rojas, who Pinchao said gave birth three years ago in captivity to a child named Emanuel. The father is a guerrilla, Pinchao said.

After suffering a bout of hepatitis a year ago, Pinchao said, Betancourt remains thin but is otherwise in good health and recently was his daily exercise partner.

Senator Leahy. Senator Reid. Hello? Anyone?

Will Hollywood make a movie of this man?

The policeman, Jhon Frank Pinchao, recently escaped from the rebels after more than eight years in captivity. He was abducted in 1998 when FARC rebels raided the southeastern town of Mitu, killing some officers and taking 60 people hostage.

Pinchao says the kidnappers have punished Betancourt for trying to escape. He says he last saw her and the American captives on April 28th.

The former hostage said Thursday in Bogota he fled a rebel camp and spent 17 days walking through the Amazon jungle before a police patrol found him.

Pinchao says the hostages were moved from one camp to another every few months.

The FARC has been holding about 60 political prisoners for several years in the hope of trading them for hundreds of rebels held by the government.

What a story...but it would make Communists in the jungle, I mean Rain Forest, look bad - so maybe not.

Democrats defunding another war

Colombia. Yes, I have an interest in Colombia - besides the obvious.

One of the most critical nations in our hemisphere is Colombia. Huge gains have been made to go after the Nacro-Marxists.

President Uribe is one of the best leaders South America has ever had. Sure, there have been problems and speed bumps along the way - the progress that has been made to disconnect from the entrenched Paramilitary Forces as the Colombian government steps up over the last decade has been outstanding. Slow, steady progress is being made against the longest running Communist insurgencies on the planet.

Colombia is a front line state against Hugo Chavez. All trends are going the right way - in a way that is good for America.

Well, we can't have that - can we?

Sen. Patrick Leahy last week put a hold on $55.2 million in military aid to Colombia, citing the increasing number of reports of collaboration between Colombian officials and right-wing paramilitaries. The scandal, widely called "para-politics," has rattled Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's government, hurting the president both in Colombia and in the United States.
...
The incidents of collaboration with paramilitaries, including the one involving Gen. Montoya, took place in 2002, the year Mr. Uribe was elected. (Several of the legislators at the time were not even Uribe supporters.) And although "para-politics" may taint Mr. Uribe's government, it doesn't change the fact that Colombia is safer, more peaceful and on a better path since 2002. Murders have been on a substantial and fairly steady decline. Mr. Uribe quickly made good on his promises to go after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), guerrillas that at one point had amassed some 20,000 soldiers. By increasing the size of Colombia's security forces, Mr. Uribe was able to weaken FARC, particularly in central Colombia, and was also able to negotiate the deal with the paramilitaries.
...
Democrats, Mr. Leahy included, have in the past been critical of U.S. aid to Colombia, so it's a little surprising that he now would put a hold on military assistance. This is clearly a mistake. U.S. aid is essential for Colombia to secure the progress that has been made -- progress that represents a small success story in Latin America. Democrats would be wrong to undermine U.S. support now.

Help Colombia help itself and all we will have to do is watch and advise. Let Colombia fall in to anarchy and loss - and there will be a nightmare in the making - more of a nightmare.

Viva Colombia II: Electric Boogaloo

Like my Grandfather might have said...Yowza!

Models display creations from the St Even collection during the Fabulosos 80's fashion week in Medellin March 15, 2007. Picture taken March 15, 2007. REUTERS/Fredy Amariles (COLOMBIA)

I will sponsor her green card. Again, this is one area where America is, sadly, behind Latin America. Yes, I will take our immigrants over Europe's from North Africa any day!

Mike, eat your heart out.

Viva Colombia!!

Now THAT is what I am talking about!

Another reason immigration from South America does not bother me all that much. When the host culture (ours) thinks this and this are attractive; you have to love a culture that wants their models to look like this and this - and wants to add their "personality" to your national mix. The Europeans can keep their North African and Arab women with their Hijab and Burkas - I'll take the South Americans any day. Now THAT on the right is what what women should look like!

On a serious note though, if you have girls you know the cancer "fashion" has on a growing girl. Most of the pictures they see in magazines are of women who look like they just got out of a typhus ridden detention camp.