Blog Note: You can find additional information on broadcasting from the affected area on our sister blog the Shortwave Central.
Over the weekend, the crisis has continued to escalate in the northern portion of South America. The latest on the wires indicates that Venezuela has closed its border with Colombia as part of a rapidly escalating crisis over the killing of a Colombian FARC rebel chief. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) - has been waging a four-decade guerrilla war against the government in Bogota, Colombia.
The move comes amid frantic diplomatic maneuvering to quell a rapidly spiraling crisis that threatens to engulf much of South America, after Colombia's weekend cross-border raid on a rebel camp in Ecuador which killed the FARC number two leader Raul Reyes.
Ecuador severed diplomatic ties with Colombia and Venezuela expelled all Colombian diplomats, prompting the 34-member Organization of American States to plan an emergency meeting in hopes of resolving the escalating tensions.
President Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela - a socialist and ideologically sympathetic to the Marxist-inspired FARC, ordered 6000 troops, tanks and aircraft to the border, warning Colombia of "war" if it tried a raid into Venezuelan territory.
While I do not have any material on monitoring the Ecuadorian military, I do have some previously monitored frequency information on the Colombia and Venezuela military. So from the Milcom Monitoring Post files here are some frequencies and nets to watch (all freqs are in kHz). This list is copyright 2008 by Teak Publishing and may not be reproduced or redistributed in any format without the permission of the author. Sites may link to this blog article freely without permission.
Colombian Military
Air Force (ALE) 10935.0 14775.0 20885.0
Army (ALE) 10489.0 11018.0
Navy (ALE) 4632.0 5500.0 7900.0 8300.0 8400.0 9085.0 9200.0 10486.0 10608.0 11155.0 11440.0 11445.0 11455.0 13530.0 14582.0 16544.0
Venezuela Military
Army (ALE) 4453.0 5406.0 5760.0 5787.0 6780.0 6786.0 6789.0 6870.0 7516.0 7597.0 7849.0 7896.0 8050.0 8060.0 8178.0 8180.0 8187.0 8859.0 9052.0 9184.5 9232.0 9233.0 9259.0 9289.0 10115.0 10156.0 10272.0 10396.0 10558.0 10600.0 11601.0 11604.0 11610.0 12185.0 12191.0 12192.0 12200.0 13455.0 13464.0 13506.0 14569.0 14647.0
Army/NG (Mil-Std-188-110A serial tone standard (encrypted)) 5406.0 6847.0 6870.0 8060.0 8181.0 9052.0 12919.0 13455.0 14569.0
CG/Navy (ALE) 7810.0 9065.0 11625.0 13475.0 15600.0
Navy (ALE+Mil-Std-188-110A serial tone standard (encrypted)) 5334.0 5439.0 6248.0 6357.0 6360.0 6810.0 6888.0 6890.0 6894.0 6895.0 6963.0 7849.0 8260.0 8270.0 8273.0 8275.0 8280.0 8285.0 8297.0 8340.0 8358.0 8500.0 8540.0 8582.0 8810.0 8825.0 9017.0 9075.0 9190.0 9350.0 9355.0 9380.0 9400.0 10272.0 10600.0 10650.0 12220.0 12480.0 12537.0 12546.0 12583.0 12660.0 13139.0 13500.0 13546.0 14759.0 14790.0 14900.0 14911.0 16716.0 17080.0 19098.0 19200.0 20396.8 20400.0
One interesting foot note to all this was a USAF Rivet Joint RC-135V (55 Wing/38RS) was reportedly spotted heading south a short time ago. This recon aircraft may be keeping an eye on things in the conflict area.
Picture (above) credit:
Português: Brasília - Entrevista do presidente da Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, após reunião na Granja do Torto com os presidentes do Brasil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, e da Argentina, Néstor Kirchner. Source Agência Brasil - Foto no:130922 Date 19/01/2006 Author José Cruz/ABr Permission(Reusing this image) This photograph was produced by Agência Brasil, a public Brazilian news agency. Their website states: "O conteúdo deste site é publicado sob a licença Creative Commons Atribuição 2.5 Brasil" (The content of this website is published under the Creative Commons License Attribution 2.5 Brazil)