Seeking scapegoats

RELATIONS between Venezuela, in radical socialist hands since the turn of the century, and its broadly pro-American neighbour, Colombia, have often been erratic and at times, literally explosive. In 2007 the first stretch of a gas pipeline linking the two countries was inaugurated, amid warm rhetoric about renewed amity. But in July it blew up, apparently because of lack of maintenance, and bilateral tensions of another kind soon flared. More…