Rumours of war
Ecuador and Venezuela confront Colombia over the killing of a rebel leader
AFP
But Mr Chávez’s intervention did not last long, as the Venezuelan president was accused of behaving more as an advocate for the FARC than as a neutral mediator. After a few months, in late NovemberIT WAS presented as a straightforward case of “hot pursuit”. But the killing at the weekend of a senior guerrilla leader, Raúl Reyes, by the Colombian armed forces, just inside Ecuador, has turned into what could be the closest to a cross-border war in Latin America since the mid-1990s.
Both Ecuador and its ally Venezuela have broken diplomatic relations with Colombia, expelling Colombia’s ambassadors, over the incident. They are also sending troops to their respective borders, although there appears to be no immediate prospect of hostilities. Brazil has condemned Colombia’s actions, along with many others in the region; the Organisation of American States was scheduled to hold an emergency session on the matter on Tuesday March 4th.
Colombia’s army struck a valuable target. The rebel, whose real name was Luis Edgar Devia, was a member of a five-man secretariat in charge of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which has been waging a guerrilla war for almost half a century, financed in recent times by kidnapping, extortion and drug-trafficking. Colombia’s government, led by President Álvaro Uribe, has adopted a hard-line approach to the rebels, seeking—with substantial American aid—to crush them militarily, while resisting demands for a demilitarised zone in which to discuss prisoner exchanges and a possible political settlement.
AFP
But Mr Chávez’s intervention did not last long, as the Venezuelan president was accused of behaving more as an advocate for the FARC than as a neutral mediator. After a few months, in late NovemberIT WAS presented as a straightforward case of “hot pursuit”. But the killing at the weekend of a senior guerrilla leader, Raúl Reyes, by the Colombian armed forces, just inside Ecuador, has turned into what could be the closest to a cross-border war in Latin America since the mid-1990s.
Both Ecuador and its ally Venezuela have broken diplomatic relations with Colombia, expelling Colombia’s ambassadors, over the incident. They are also sending troops to their respective borders, although there appears to be no immediate prospect of hostilities. Brazil has condemned Colombia’s actions, along with many others in the region; the Organisation of American States was scheduled to hold an emergency session on the matter on Tuesday March 4th.
Colombia’s army struck a valuable target. The rebel, whose real name was Luis Edgar Devia, was a member of a five-man secretariat in charge of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which has been waging a guerrilla war for almost half a century, financed in recent times by kidnapping, extortion and drug-trafficking. Colombia’s government, led by President Álvaro Uribe, has adopted a hard-line approach to the rebels, seeking—with substantial American aid—to crush them militarily, while resisting demands for a demilitarised zone in which to discuss prisoner exchanges and a possible political settlement.
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