In a severe blow to the Colombian rebel group FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), the Colombian military launched an attack early today that killed the second-highest ranking FARC commander, Raúl Reyes, and 16 other FARC rebels.
The attack occurred in the southern-most part of Colombia, just on the Ecuadorian border. The fighting spilled over into Ecuador, where the FARC unit was stationed, and where the bodies of Reyes and others were found. Colombian military planes also violated Ecuadorian airspace.
Tonight, my host family and I have been listening to the TV news coverage of this event, which carries great weight for Ecuador. Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa just delivered a speech asserting that Ecuador's sovereignty had been threatened by the Colombian fighting within its borders. In response, President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia has just delivered an apology to Ecuador for the event.
President Hugo Chavéz of Venezuela, which has also been affected by FARC fighting in the past, announced that if a similar event occurred within Venezuela's borders, it would spark a war.
"President Uribe, think about it long and hard. You had better not get the idea of doing this on our territory because it would be a 'causus belli', cause for a war," President Chavez said in his first reaction to the raid." (CNN.com)
Correa sent troops from Quito to investigate in northern Ecuador, where the fighting had occurred, and they found a permanent FARC station containing food and arms for over 200 people. It is still unclear if the Ecuadorian government knew that this camp was there.
I'm sure we'll continue to hear more about this in the coming week, so I'll keep you all updated as things occur.
3 comments:
This is scary--make sure you keep us posted!!
what do people think of the chavez there?
Here's a convoluted answer to your question, seb:
Correa & Chavez are quite friendly. Generally, the people that support Correa support Chavez. Correa is taking Ecuador leftward, igniting a "citizen's revolution," and generally following in the steps of Chavez. But a lot of people also don't like Chavez, and hate the fact that Correa is more or less his puppet.
So, opinion is divided. That's my best answer.
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