But it seems that belief was overly optimistic, as the proposal has been not only rejected by the “National Libyan Council,” a group made up of protest movement leaders, but also by Saif al-Islam al-Gadhafi, the son of the long-standing dictator.

The protesters pointed to the massive death toll in the violent regime crackdowns in defending their opposition to the talks, insisting that the time to talk passed long ago and that only the ouster of the dictator would be acceptable anymore. Saif al-Islam insisted the talks were unnecessary and that the regime are “capable enough to solve our issues” without help.

Early indications were that Gadhafi himself had agreed in princple to the talks, and the Arab League also was open to the idea, though they insisted nothing was agreed to. Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez is extremely close with Gadhafi and appears to have been keen on saving his rule from the popular revolt.

Yesterday, Nicaraguan President and former Sandinista rebel group leader Daniel Ortega "expressed solidarity" with Gadhafi’s "revolution."

"I have been speaking with Gadhafi on the telephone… he is again fighting a great battle, how many battles has Gadhafi had to fight," said Ortega. "In these circumstances they are looking for a way to have a dialogue, but defend the unity of the nation, so the country does not disintegrate, so there will not be anarchy in the country."

Several Anonymous-allied Twitter accounts reacted in outrage to the statement.

In Venezuela, TeleSurTV, founded by President Hugo Chávez and state-funded in large part, took no official line on Libya but in a 10-minute segment Monday night, only commentators sympathetic to Gadhafi were interviewed by an "impartial" host. All said that Gadhafi had done a lot for the Libyan people and the unrest is being provoked and funded by Western "imperialists." These themes were later echoed in a rambling speech by the dictator himself on Libyan state television.

Chávez himself has not himself said anything at all about the Libyan situation or his erstwhile revolutionary ally.

The Anonymous source said this could leave both Latin American states’ governments open to DDoS attacks, which would shut them down for a period of time. They may even be hacked.

Libyan state websites were attacked overnight by Anonymous members. As of right now, the central bank’s site is not functioning. The internet in Libya has not officially been shut off, as it was in Egypt, but there is evidence of internal interruption.

The source clarified that the group only attacks state media.

In other regional news, Peru has withdrawn diplomatic relations with Libya for the time being.

Incredibly, the document leads off in the very first paragraph by conceding that all the allegations against Venezuela in this regard “appear baseless,” and they later shrug off the allegations as “little more than conspiracy-mongering by Chavez adversaries.

But apparently there was no point in letting the truth get in the way of a convenient lie, and the document openly talks about how the Caracas embassy will seek to “exploit Venezuela’s missteps” and use the allegations to drum up opposition amongst countries like France which, it lamented, “have tended to make light of our concerns about Venezuela’s antidemocratic tendancies and militarization.”

In the end the document warns against dismissing the rumors publicly and expressed hope that Venezuela’s “coziness” with Iran would give them more opportunities to make diplomatic gaffes which the US could exploit to their own ends.

“At this time, there are several camps that are being strengthened in Venezuela, where they are launching attacks against Venezuelan territory, as well as Colombian territory, and in turn hurting the Venezuelan people,” insisted Colombia’s Ambassador to the OAS.

Venezuela’s envoy denied the claims, but said that if any of Colombia’s rebels had found there way into Venezuela it was because of inaction by the Colombian government. The US has been backing Colombia in its fight against the rebel factions.

Colombia is seeking to send international observers into Venezuela to check on the camps, which Venezuela insists it will resist any efforts by Colombia to force its way into their territory. The two sides have long been at odds but with ties severed the rhetoric seems to be ratcheting up dramatically.

The US deployment in Colombia means that if the tensions eventually spark a direct conflict, the United States would almost certainly become involved on Colombia’s behalf, and leave the US fighting yet another massive war.

The deal, which is expected to be signed in the next two weeks, has been roundly criticized in the region since early this month when details started to come to light. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has cautioned that the deal could spark a broad war in South America.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva has called for a summit with President Obama and regional leaders to discuss the situation and to calm the “climate of unease” that has resulted from it.

The move is seen primarily as the result of Ecuador expelling the US from the Manta air base, and the US desire to keep troops in the region. With Colombia’s tense relations with its neighbors and the nation’s ongoing fight with Marxist guerillas, however, it could be a recipe for an escalated presence in the future.

The Brazilian government has sought guarantees that the US military’s operations will be restricted to Colombian territory. The nation has also officially come out in opposition to the deployment. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has cautioned that the US presence could spark the beginning of a broad war in South America.

Yet if the harsh criticism of major heads of states bothered President Barack Obama, he was not showing it. Indeed, in an interview with reporters today he insisted that despite the agreement he had “no intent in establishing a US military base in Colombia.” He also dismissed the criticism as “anti-Yankee rhetoric.”

In addition to fighting drug smuggling, the US presence would also be used to further assist the Colombian government against the Marxist rebels in its nation. Colombia has accused Ecuador and Venezuela of assisting the rebels against the Colombian government.

The Venezuelan government has previously expressed support for Iran’s civilian nuclear program, which Israel has claimed is a front for a covert nuclear weapons program. There has been no evidence to support the assertion, but Israel has repeatedly threatened to attack Iran if it does not abandon the program.

The report claims massive Iranian infiltration of South and Central America however, dating back nearly three decades. The report accuses Iran of establishing Hezbollah cells in Venezuela as part of a remarkably convoluted strategy to “bring America to its knees.”

The report also accuses Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of being in league with the Iranians, saying they had issued permits to allow Iranians to travel freely throughout South America. Relations between Israel and Venezuela have been strained since the former’s invasion of the Gaza Strip, during which the two nations expelled one anothers ambassadors.