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President Bush spoke with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe by phone from the White House the morning of March 4. "I told him that America fully supports Colombia's democracy, and that we firmly oppose any acts of aggression that could destabilize the region," he said of the phone call (Washington Post).
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Bush says U.S. supports Colombia
Beverly Condgon | 3/5/08 | World News
olombia’s military, on the pursuit of FARC guerrillas, crossed into neighboring nation Ecuador this weekend, igniting tensions throughout the area.
The FARC in English is an acronym for Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The FARC is the biggest rebel group in Colombia and has been accused by its government and president, Alvaro Uribe, of financing itself through trafficking cocaine, while also being accused of extortion and kidnapping. Colombia is currently estimated to be America’s largest cocaine importer.
In the past weekend’s strike on a guerilla base in Ecuador, Colombian troops killed Raul Reyes, the FARC’s second-in-command. Reyes was also the senior guerrilla commander and international spokesman for the FARC.
Colombian leaders rejoiced in their military victory.
"It is the hardest blow to FARC in all of its history", Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said, after confirming Reyes’ death in a press conference. He also reported the deaths 16 other FARC rebels and one Colombian soldier (Huffington Post).
"This could hit morale [of the FARC] because the myth of the invulnerability of the bosses is over," Colombian security analyst Alfredo Rangel said in addition.
Adding to the tensions, Columbian forces obtained Reyes' laptops at the FARC's guerilla site in Ecuador. Columbia said that documents on the laptops show that the FARC is purchasing uranium to make illegal bombs.
The laptops also allegedly show evidence that Venezuela has recently made a $300 million payment to the FARC. President Uribe said they would file charges against Chavez with the International Criminal Court.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said trying Chavez would be "laughable" (New York Times).
President George W. Bush voiced his support for Colombia.
"America will continue to stand with Colombia as it confronts violence and terror and fights drug traffickers,” Mr. Bush said (Washington Post).
"America fully supports Colombia's democracy…We firmly oppose any acts of aggression that could destabilize the region," the President continued (Washington Post).
Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, on the other hand, has voiced his opposition to the strike made by Colombian forces across the Ecuador border. Colombia "invaded Ecuador, [and] flagrantly violated Ecuador's sovereignty," he said (BBC News).
The death of Reyes and the 16 other guerrillas "wasn't any combat. It was a cowardly murder, all of it coldly calculated," Chavez said (Yahoo News).
"We pay tribute to a true revolutionary, who was Raul Reyes," Chavez said, recalling that he had met rebel in Brazil in 1995 and calling him a "good revolutionary" (Yahoo News).
Chavez has sent thousands of troops, along with Ecuador, to the Colombian border. "Mr. Defense Minister, move 10 battalions to the border with Colombia for me, immediately — tank battalions. Deploy the air force," he said on his weekly TV and radio program (New York Times).
"We don't want war, but we aren't going to permit the U.S. empire, which is the master [of Colombia]...to come divide us," he said (Yahoo News).
A former Venezuelan ambassador to the United Nations is a strong critic of the Venezuelan president. “Chavez is effectively supporting narcoterrorists who take refuge in Venezuela and Ecuador whole saying a democratically elected leader of Colombia cannot fight back,” Diego Arria said (New York Times).
Meanwhile President Bush has encouraged Congress to show its support for democracy in Colombia and opposition to the FARC and its supporters by passing a free trade agreement with Colombia, calling it a “matter of national security” (Washington Post).
President Bush spoke with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe by phone from the White House the morning of March 4.
"I told him that America fully supports Colombia's democracy, and that we firmly oppose any acts of aggression that could destabilize the region," he said of the phone call (Washington Post).
Colombian President Uribe believes that congressional approval of the pending free trade agreement is “one of the most important ways America can demonstrate its support for Colombia,” Bush said (Washington Post).
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