Colombia's war of words

2008-03-03 12:16

Bogota - Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador were locked in a tense military and diplomatic standoff on Monday as they moved troops toward their common borders and engaged in a war of words over Colombia's anti-guerrilla raid into Ecuador.

Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa said late on Sunday he had ordered the deployment of troops to the northern border and an "immediate expulsion" of Colombian Ambassador Carlos Holguin as a result of Saturday's raid, in which Raul Reyes, the second-ranking commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was killed.

Ecuador earlier recalled its own ambassador to Bogota and warned that Colombia's actions might result in "ultimate consequences".

Correa also cancelled a visit to Cuba to deal with the crisis at home.

From Caracas, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he was sending 10 army battalions equipped with tanks and fighter aircraft to his country's border with Colombia.

Correa's initial reaction to the raid was relatively calm. But he admitted he had become angry when he learned the FARC rebels "were not killed in hot pursuit, but were bombed and massacred in their sleep".

In a statement released earlier on Sunday, Colombian Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo extended Bogota's apology for the action, but said the Colombian military "had to take over the border area" because it needed to locate "the place from which it took fire".

'We don't want war'

But later, the tone hardened when a spokesperson for Colombian President Alvaro Uribe accused Correa of making commitments to the FARC.

He said documents found in computers belonging to Reyes showed that "Correa has a relationship and commitments with the FARC".

Chavez meanwhile said Ecuador "can count on Venezuela for whatever it needs, in any situation".

"We don't want war," said Chavez. "But we won't let the Empire or its lap dog President Uribe try to make us weaker."

The Empire is Chavez's standard reference to the United States.

Chavez also ordered his foreign minister to shut down the Venezuelan embassy in Bogota and tell all officials to come home.

Venezuela's ambassador to Colombia had already been recalled in November during a previous Chavez-Uribe spat.

The United States, which has been backing Colombia in its decades-long fight against leftist guerrillas, said it was monitoring the situation in South America.

"This is an odd reaction by Venezuela to Colombia's efforts against the FARC, a terrorist organisation that continues to hold Colombians, Americans and others hostage," White House spokesperson Gordon Johndroe told reporters at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.

With no love lost between Chavez and Uribe, Chavez slammed Uribe for violating Ecuador's territorial integrity.

"President Uribe is a criminal, not only a liar, he is a mafioso, a paramilitary leading a terrorist state," he said. "He's a criminal who heads a gang of criminals at the Narino Palace," which is Colombia's presidential office.

'Heaviest blow'

He added that Colombia "had become the Israel of Latin America".

Colombian Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said Reyes, 59, was in a rebel camp located 1.8km from the Ecuadoran-Colombian border when the air force began bombing shortly after midnight.

Colombian ground troops attacked the guerrilla hideout to secure the area, Santos said, adding that a total of 17 guerrillas and one Colombian soldier were killed in the operation.

"It is the heaviest blow ever dealt against this terrorist group," Santos said.

Reyes, 59, whose real name was Luis Edgar Devia, had been viewed as a possible successor to FARC's 77-year-old boss, Manuel Marulanda.

- AFP