President Calderon of Mexico telephoned his counterparts in Ecuador and Columbia this week – Rafael Correa and Ãlvaro Uribe – to discuss the increasingly tense situation between the two countries since Columbia strayed onto Ecuadorean soil over the weekend and killed ‘the second-highest-ranking leader in Colombia’s largest leftist guerrilla group,’ the FARC and 16 other rebels.
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has also weighed into the skirmish, and both he and Ecuador have moved troops to the borders between Venezuela and Columbia. Chavez referred to Columbia’s US-backed Government as the ‘new israel of Latin America,’ and both Venezuela and Ecuador have broken off diplomatic relations with Bogota.
In turn, Columbian president Uribe has alleged that Chavez has been funding the FARC and should be tried in the International Criminal Court for ‘sponsoring and financing’ genocide.
Mexico’s involvement in the affair continues, at it transpires that at least one of the FARC guerrillas captured and injured during Saturday night’s attack was a Mexican. LucÃa Andrea Morett Ãlvarez is recovering in a hospital in Ecuador, and reports this morning suggest that there could be more Mexicans – La Jornada claims that another Mexican died in the attack – a university researcher called Juan González del Castillo.
Calderon ‘expressed his government’s will to support any action, at the request of both parties, to encourage dialog between their nations to restore the bilateral relationship to normality as soon as possible.’
See more details about the increasingly tense situation between Columbia, Ecuador and Venezuela from the NYT here, LATimes here, BBC here and the Guardian here.
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