Bad Vibes Closer to This Continent

Meanwhile, down south, things are heating up between Columbia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.

Wow, it just never ends, does it?

Chávez Sends Forces to Colombian Border

By SIMON ROMERO

Published: March 3, 2008

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela and Ecuador mobilized troops to their borders with Colombia on Sunday, intensifying a diplomatic crisis after Colombian forces killed a senior guerrilla leader at a jungle camp in Ecuador.

President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, whose government has warm ties with the rebel group, threatened Colombia with war and mobilized tank units and fighter jets near the border between the two countries.

The killing on Saturday of 17 members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, Latin America’s largest insurgency, also generated a fierce diplomatic reaction from Ecuador and Venezuela.

Speaking on television Sunday night, President Rafael Correa of Ecuador called Colombia’s action a violation of Ecuador’s sovereignty. He expelled Colombia’s ambassador and withdrew his ambassador from Bogotá.

Mr. Chávez, meanwhile, said he was shutting down Venezuela’s embassy in Colombia.

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