Venezuela-Colombia conflict widens

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23481949

Venezuela-Colombia conflict widens

Chavez calls Colombian raid a ‘war crime,’ threatens to nationalize firms

updated 10:29 p.m. MT, Wed., March. 5, 2008
CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday called a Colombian raid that killed two dozen rebels in Ecuador a "war crime," and joined Ecuador's president in demanding international condemnation of the cross-border attack.
In a bid to ease the diplomatic crisis, the Organization of American States approved a resolution earlier Wednesday that called the Colombian military raid a violation of Ecuadorean sovereignty. But President Rafael Correa said the resolution was not enough.
"The OAS resolution pleases us. We are pleased, but not satisfied," Correa said, standing beside Chavez in Caracas. "This isn't going to cool down until the aggressor is condemned."

The watered-down resolution approved by the OAS in Washington declared the attack a violation of Ecuador's sovereignty and called for the OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza to lead a delegation to both countries to ease tensions, but stopped short of explicitly condemning the assault.
The United States was the only OAS nation offering Colombia unqualified support.
"We are using all the peaceful and diplomatic channels available for the international community to condemn the aggressor," Ecuador's president said.
"We've cut relations with a government that can't be believed, a treacherous government," Correa said. "We can't have relations ... with that sort of government."
Plans on computer proof of alliance?
Colombia accused both Chavez and Correa of having deepening ties with the leftist rebels, and said that was shown by documents found on a laptop seized at the bombed rebel camp.
President Alvaro Uribe, whose decision to attack the rebels reflected his frustration over the ability of guerrillas to find refuge across Colombia's borders in Venezuela and Ecuador, said he would not mobilize troops or allow his nation to be drawn into war with his neighbors.
Chavez and Correa made a series of accusations and insults against Colombia's U.S.-allied government. Chavez called Colombia a "genocidal government," accused Uribe of backing illegal right-wing paramilitary groups, questioned his sanity and blasted Saturday's cross-border raid.
"We demand condemnation of the Colombian government for this aberrant act," Chavez said.
Chavez laughed as he dismissed accusations by Uribe's government that Venezuela had sent financial support to Colombia's rebels.

Economic consequences?
And as for some $6 billion in annual trade between Venezuela and Colombia, Chavez predicted "that's coming down."
"We aren't interested in Colombian investments here," Chavez said. "Of the Colombian businesses that are here in Venezuela, we could nationalize some."
He said Venezuela will search for other countries like Ecuador, Brazil and Argentina to take the place of products imported from Colombia. Noting that Colombia traditional supplies food to Venezuela, he said that now "we can't depend (on Colombia) not even for a grain of rice."

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Security forces try to ID man killed in raid; accusations fly at summit

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23521758

updated 1 hour, 37 minutes ago
BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombian security forces carrying out an arrest warrant Friday for a top rebel leader killed a man in a shootout and were trying to confirm his identity, an official in the chief prosecutor's office said Friday.
The raid targeted Ivan Rios, a member of the FARC guerrillas' ruling junta. If the body is identified as his, it would be the second member of the ruling secretariat of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, to be killed in a week.
That would be a huge blow to Latin America's oldest and strongest insurgency, shaken by the death Saturday of spokesman Raul Reyes in a cross-border raid in Ecuador that has set off an international diplomatic crisis.

The official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was awaiting an official announcement, said Friday's raid occurred in a mountainous area of the western Colombian province of Caldas.
The State Department had a standing bounty of $5 million for Rios, whose real name is Jose Juvenal Velandia.
Youngest member of leadership
In a 1999 interview with The Associated Press, Rios said he joined the insurgency as a student in Colombia's second city of Medellin to avoid being killed by right-wing death squads that had attacked other student activists.
Rios became known across Colombia as one of the rebels' main negotiators in failed peace talks that ended in 2002. He was thought to be around 40 years old.
Rios commanded the FARC's central bloc, which operates throughout Colombia's northwestern coffee region. Security forces say he frequently accompanied the FARC's senior leader, Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda, in recent years.
Rios "was the youngest member of the secretariat. He was very important to the rebels," said Alfredo Rangel of the Bogota-based think tank Security and Democracy. "This shows the army is capable of taking down the rebels' most important pillars and that any of the leaders can fall at any time."
Harsh words exchanged at summit
Meanwhile, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said Friday that Colombian rebels helped Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa get elected, citing as evidence a rebel's letter seized during the cross-border raid last week.
Correa walked out of the 20-nation Rio Group summit after the finger-wagging accusation, then returned and denounced the accusation as "infamy."
Uribe said his forces seized a letter during their raid Saturday on a rebel camp just across the border with Ecuador in which Raul Reyes — a rebel leader killed in the raid — told the guerrillas' top commander about "aid delivered to Rafael Correa, as instructed."
Uribe also said that he didn't give Correa advance warning of the attack on Ecuadorean soil because "we haven't had the cooperation of the government of President Correa in the fight against terrorism."
That prompted an angry exchange between the two, as other presidents sought to keep the dialogue civil.
Correa, who has broken off relations with Colombia and sent troops to the border over the incident, denounced Uribe as a liar, portrayed Ecuador as a victim of Colombia's conflict, and proposed an international peacekeeping force to guard their border.
"I reject this infamy that the government of Rafael Correa has collaborated with the FARC," Correa bellowed into the microphone as he accused Uribe of lying. His comments drew loud applause from other leaders, who met Uribe's speech with silence.
Crisis overshadows other summit issues
The summit was to have focused on energy and other issues, but those were overshadowed by the diplomatic crisis in the Andes after the deadly Colombian cross-border raid into Ecuador on Saturday that killed a senior Colombian rebel and 24 others.
It began quietly, with the host, Dominican President Leonel Fernandez, appealing for unity. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said it was time to cool tensions and predicted the summit "is going to be positive."
"People should go cool off a bit, chill out their nerves," Chavez said before the summit started. "I think the meeting today is going to be positive, because it is going to help the debate. We have to debate, talk, and this is the first step toward finding the road."

But the accusations began quickly, with Correa criticizing "the aggression of Colombia" and Uribe saying that Correa is a dishonest partner in the fight against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
"We didn't inform him (of the raid) because we have not had cooperation from the government of President Correa in the fight against terrorism," Uribe said.
Latin American foreign ministers on Thursday drafted a statement saying national sovereignty must be respected. The draft, to be submitted to the presidents on Friday, mirrors one earlier in the week from the Organization of American States, said Chilean Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley.

Military buildup on border
Chavez has ordered thousands of troops and tanks to Venezuela's border with Colombia and threatened to slash trade and nationalize Colombian-owned businesses. Correa has also sent troops to the border, although Uribe has said he won't do the same.
The summit marks the first face-to-face encounters between Chavez, Correa and Uribe since the international crisis began.
Correa told reporters he wants Uribe to apologize for the attack in Ecuadorean territory and give his "formal and firm commitment" that Colombia will never "violate" the sovereignty of another country.
On his arrival in Santo Domingo late Thursday, Chavez claimed the strike was "planned and directed by the United States." Later, he said he had information that "gringo soldiers" participated in the attack, but provided no evidence.
U.S. Southern Command spokesman Jose Ruiz neither confirmed or denied this week that the U.S. military took part in the attack. The latest body was discovered Thursday, according to Ecuador's security minister, Gustavo Larrea.
Uribe is hugely popular among Colombians for cracking down on the FARC, which finances itself through kidnapping and drug trafficking.
Nicaragua, a leftist ally of Venezuela and Ecuador, broke relations with Colombia on Thursday.
France's contacts with rebels cut
The attack also cut off all contacts between the rebels and France, where the freedom of French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt has become a national cause, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Friday.
Uribe has refused to rule out future military incursions into Ecuador or Venezuela, saying he first needs assurances from Correa and Chavez that they are not harboring rebels.
One of the rare regional voices offering support for Colombia was Salvadoran President Tony Saca, who said the Colombian government should be able to defend its citizens.
"We need to understand Colombia has the legitimate right to go after terrorists ... wherever they may be, of course without harming the sovereignty of another country," Saca said.