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Caribbean-Latin America
Venezuela, Ecuador mass troops on Colombia border
2008-03-03
Ecuador and Venezuela say they are moving thousands of troops to Colombia's borders, a day after Colombian forces killed a leftist rebel leader in Ecuadorean territory. Colombia later charged that high-ranking Ecuadorean officials met recently with the slain rebel, Raúl Reyes, to accommodate the guerrillas' presence there.

The developments raised tensions in a region that has been on edge in the several months since Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez had a bitter falling-out. Mr. Reyes was the second-ranking commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

At a news conference late Sunday, Colombian National Police director Oscar Naranjo said that files in three laptop computers recovered in a jungle camp a mile inside Ecuador, where Reyes's body was found, show that the rebel met Jan. 18 and Jan. 28 with Ecuadorean Interior Minister Gustavo Larrea to discuss several issues, including stationing Army and police officers "who were not hostile to the FARC."

Mr. Naranjo also said documents show that Mr. Larrea and Reyes discussed a meeting between Reyes and President Rafael Correa in which Reyes's "secure transport" would be guaranteed. "The questions posed by these documents merit a response from the Ecuadorean government," Naranjo said.

In a nationwide address late Sunday, President Correa rejected Colombia's apology for the incursion and said President Uribe lied when he told him Saturday that Reyes and 16 other FARC rebels were killed in hot pursuit.

"They were massacred," Correa said.

The FARC, Colombia's largest rebel group, has been locked in a 40-year war with that nation's government. It holds 700 hostages.

Earlier Sunday, Ecuador said it was moving additional troops to defend its northeastern border with Colombia, expelled Colombia's ambassador and recalled its own ambassador to Bogotá. Saturday's killing of Reyes was a "violation of the territorial integrity and legal system of Ecuador," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

Meanwhile, leftist Venezuelan President Chávez said he was sending troops to his country's border with Colombia.
Posted by:Fred

#18  The man doesn't think in three dimensions. One good flight from Bogotá to the oil off load point would shut down the entire export trade. Who other than the Chinese would 'credit' Hugo for the work and maintenance to get it going again? Yeah, check is in the mail.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2008-03-03 19:31  

#17  did they cut him off of his coca paste habit?
Posted by: sinse   2008-03-03 19:25  

#16  ed has a point. Colombia may decide some border readjustments are needed. 200ks would encompass all of Venezuela's western oilfields.
Posted by: Phil_B   2008-03-03 19:11  

#15  Don't you mean Columbia's oil wells?
Posted by: ed   2008-03-03 18:49  

#14  he might stop pumping oil, but it will be as much about his new teams efficiency as its malice. I favor a squadron of a10 and 4 or 5 f22's be moved to canal zone for routine manuevers.
Posted by: Thraviper Panda2099   2008-03-03 17:48  

#13  "jungle" and "tank battalion" don't really go together?

If they are AMX-30s they would at least be able to move in the jungle. However, calling the AMX-30 the best post WWII French tank is like talking about the "bravest Palestinian war hero".

Consider that during Desert Storm, the AMX-30s were kept on the flank because Saddam's anti-tank weapons were too dangerous.

A 66mm LAW or heavier weapon will shred those tanks.

As for the rest of Hugo's Army, he's been replacing his American trained troops with "Bolivarian" units. Most of the Venezuelan officers have emigrated to the US.

Al
Posted by: Frozen Al   2008-03-03 17:42  

#12  Chavez is all hat and no cattle. He hasn't got the stones to invade. Even if he did he'd get slaughtered, which would hurt him badly at home. Recall the Argentine generals.

And he won't stop pumping oil. He's a tin pot dictator who needs the money. He may stop selling to the US, but oil is a fungible commodity. He'd sell to someone else whose former supplier would sell to us. We'd see a slight pop to offset increase shipping fees. Yawn.

No, the final act in this play will be to extract some token concession from Columbia and declare victory. Then get back to the business of building a workers' paradise replete with political prisons, pandemic corruption, chronic shortages of everything, secret police and lavish digs for visits from swooning Hollywood well wishers.
Posted by: Iblis   2008-03-03 16:13  

#11  What would Hussein Obama do? On Feb. 22 he told a Corpus Christi rally that a "wall" is not the solution to illegal immigration of hispanics. That mentality shouldn't inspire confidence among our besieged allies.

The solution to Columbia's problems can be solved in one word: napalm. I would also add: cease identifying American "values" with Carter-Constraints. Even some Rantburgers have no recollection of the world before the peanut farmer. Think like this: enemy life is cheap.
Posted by: McZoid   2008-03-03 15:47  

#10  None of this nonsense would be taking place if the US would have run a few ARCLIGHT strikes down through Iraq prior to the US invasion, and through Iran (Natanz, Bushehr, Bandar Abbas) the first time they made nasty noises. Chavez would be quivering in fear somewhere in the Venezuelan jungle, absolutely terrified of the same thing happening wherever he showed his ugly head. Correa would have no more desire to incur the wrath of the United States, and Morales in Bolivia would be trying to find the deepest tin mine he could to crawl into. It's better to be feared than to be treated with contempt. Our State department has caused us to be considered contemptable and inept for the past 40 years. ARCLIGHTing Washington, DC, would be disasterous, but firing everyone in the State Department and starting again from scratch may be the only other alternative.

ARCLIGHTs and jungles have a long history together...
Posted by: Old Patriot   2008-03-03 15:37  

#9  He'll stop pumping oil and watch the price go to $125 a barrel or more.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2008-03-03 15:29  

#8  The Colombians have some very good special forces that operate in the mountain terrain in that area. Chavez could loose 9 battalions of tanks if he tries to push them over the mountain jungle roads.

Of course, no one claimed that Chavez was the brightest bulb in the back either....
Posted by: DarthVader   2008-03-03 15:24  

#7  Or park an Aegis destroyer 100 miles off the coast and plink the aircraft as they take off.
Posted by: Woodrow Jinens6711   2008-03-03 15:08  

#6  Any ideas on how many troops (advisors) we have in Columbia?
Posted by: bman   2008-03-03 15:07  

#5  What's Hugo gonna do when he has an aircraft carrier sitting off his coast? Does he think the Chicoms will help him? Or the Iranians?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305   2008-03-03 15:06  

#4  I just hope that SOUTHCOM has already sent a planeload of anti-tank weapons and one of Stingers to Colombia. That and a couple hundred Green Berets could make things very entertaining.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2008-03-03 15:04  

#3  I'll order more popcorn. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2008-03-03 14:54  

#2  Am I the only one who thinks "jungle" and "tank battalion" don't really go together?
Posted by: Phavirt Forkbeard6067   2008-03-03 14:51  

#1  The Rumor Mill says that those laptops not only show high level meetings with Ecuador's government, but also show that Chavez has invested $300 million dollars in the FARC.
Posted by: Destro in Panama   2008-03-03 14:44  

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