Chavez: Colombia Has Become "Israel" of Latin America
Source: Al-Manar TV, 3-3-2008
Venezuela and Ecuador moved their troops to their borders with Colombia, engaged in a war of words and downgraded diplomatic ties as they found themselves Monday in tense standoff after their Andean neighbor bombed Colombian fighters inside Ecuador in an attack Caracas said could spark a war.
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, accusing the latter of pushing South America to the brink of war and likening it to "Israel" for its US-backed attacks on fighters.
Chavez called Colombian President Alvaro Uribe a criminal and branded his government a terrorist state, over the killing of a top fighter leader on Ecuadorian soil. "The Colombian government has become the "Israel" of Latin America", Chavez said, stating at the same time that he "was not going to permit Colombia to become the "Israel" of these lands". "Uribe, we aren't going to permit you," he added.
"We don't want war," said Chavez, "but we won't let the (U.S.) Empire or its lap dog President Uribe try to make us weaker," he added. He also ordered his foreign minister to shut down the Venezuelan embassy in Bogota and tell all officials to return home.
For his part, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, a fellow leftist and close ally of Chavez, said late 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.
Correa's initial reaction to the raid was relatively calm. But he admitted he had become angry when he learned the FARC fighters "were not killed in hot pursuit, but were bombed and massacred in their sleep." He said Colombia violated Ecuador's airspace when it bombed the camp. "This was a massacre... We will not allow this to go unpunished," Correa pointed out.
On the other hand, Colombia said, in a statement, that FARC 'terrorists' including Reyes have had the custom of killing in Colombia and taking refuge in the territory of neighboring countries. Colombian Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo extended 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." But later, the tone hardened when a spokesman 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."
The United States, which has been backing Colombia in its decades-long fight, 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 organization that continues to hold Colombians, Americans and others hostage," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.
The situation pushed already tense relations between Venezuela and Colombia to a new nadir, though cross-border trade has not yet been seriously affected.
Venezuela and Ecuador moved their troops to their borders with Colombia, engaged in a war of words and downgraded diplomatic ties as they found themselves Monday in tense standoff after their Andean neighbor bombed Colombian fighters inside Ecuador in an attack Caracas said could spark a war.
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, accusing the latter of pushing South America to the brink of war and likening it to "Israel" for its US-backed attacks on fighters.
Chavez called Colombian President Alvaro Uribe a criminal and branded his government a terrorist state, over the killing of a top fighter leader on Ecuadorian soil. "The Colombian government has become the "Israel" of Latin America", Chavez said, stating at the same time that he "was not going to permit Colombia to become the "Israel" of these lands". "Uribe, we aren't going to permit you," he added.
"We don't want war," said Chavez, "but we won't let the (U.S.) Empire or its lap dog President Uribe try to make us weaker," he added. He also ordered his foreign minister to shut down the Venezuelan embassy in Bogota and tell all officials to return home.
For his part, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, a fellow leftist and close ally of Chavez, said late 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.
Correa's initial reaction to the raid was relatively calm. But he admitted he had become angry when he learned the FARC fighters "were not killed in hot pursuit, but were bombed and massacred in their sleep." He said Colombia violated Ecuador's airspace when it bombed the camp. "This was a massacre... We will not allow this to go unpunished," Correa pointed out.
On the other hand, Colombia said, in a statement, that FARC 'terrorists' including Reyes have had the custom of killing in Colombia and taking refuge in the territory of neighboring countries. Colombian Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo extended 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." But later, the tone hardened when a spokesman 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."
The United States, which has been backing Colombia in its decades-long fight, 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 organization that continues to hold Colombians, Americans and others hostage," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.
The situation pushed already tense relations between Venezuela and Colombia to a new nadir, though cross-border trade has not yet been seriously affected.
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