Chavez: Colombia doesn't seek war
CUCUTA, Colombia (AP) - March 5, 2008 "It must be said: They, the empire and its lackeys, are war. We
are peace. We are the path to peace," Chavez said in a televised
speech, his first since Colombia alleged that documents found in a
leftist rebel's computer show the Venezuelan leader has been
supporting Colombian guerrillas for years.
Chavez, who ordered 10 battalions of troops to reinforce
Venezuela's border with Colombia after Colombian troops entered
Ecuador on Saturday to attack a rebel hideout, spoke as diplomats
struggled to defuse the crisis.
In Washington, the Organization of American States approved a
compromise resolution drafted jointly by Ecuador and Colombia that
declared the raid a violation of Ecuador's sovereignty. It also
called for OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza to lead a
delegation to both countries in hopes of helping them calm
tensions.
The United States was the only nation in the OAS to offer
Colombia unqualified support. Many other countries worried openly
about the attack inside Ecuador, despite Colombia's complaints that
Venezuela and Ecuador have both provided refuge to leftist
Colombian guerrillas.
Chavez, a leftist who has long called the conservative Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe a U.S. stooge, has warned Colombia that
Venezuela would respond militarily to any violation of its border.
Venezuela's justice minister ramped up the threat Tuesday by
declaring that war "has already begun."
Chavez said Wednesday that Colombia's "warlike government"
follows U.S. dictates and that conflict of some sort with the U.S.
cannot be avoided.
"While we want freedom, they want to keep us in chains. ... We
want a fatherland; they want a colony. How can a confrontation be
avoided? It's inevitable," he said.
Ecuador says it sent 3,200 soldiers to its own border with
Colombia on Monday.
Uribe has said he will not allow Colombia to be drawn into war,
although the attack on the camp inside Ecuador reflected the
frustration of his government over the ability of rebels to take
refuge across poorly patrolled borders.
Colombia's commando raid gave Colombian officials an
intelligence bonanza from seized laptops belonging to the leftist
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Among them was the
computer of rebel leader Raul Reyes, who was among the two dozen
guerrillas killed.
Colombia released reams of documents it said were found on
Reyes' computer that suggest Chavez has supported the Colombian
guerrillas for years.
In his speech, Chavez did not refer to Colombian allegations
that he had given $300 million to the FARC and had conspired with
them to embarrass the Colombian government. Venezuela earlier
dismissed the allegations as lies.
Colombian officials also have accused the rebels of trying to
acquire radioactive material that could be used in a "dirty
bomb." The documents shared with reporters don't support that
allegation, indicating instead that the rebels discussed the
possibility of buying uranium to resell at a profit.
Documents also indicated Reyes had been secretly negotiating
with representatives of France, Venezuela, Ecuador, the U.S. and
other countries trying to free rebel-held hostages, including
French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and three American
defense contractors.
Those representatives included Ecuador's interior minister,
Gustavo Larrea, who told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he
didn't rule out the possibility the rebels still might release
Betancourt.
"We think an adequate response, in this critical moment for the
Andean region, is that they free the hostages," he said.
Larrea also said Reyes had promised that FARC fighters would
avoid operations inside Ecuador, adding that the presence of the
rebel base shows "they did not fulfill the promise."
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa called Colombia's president a
liar who "wanted war."
He warned that if the commando raid goes unpunished, "the
region will be in danger, because the next victim could be Peru, it
could be Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, any one of our countries."
Speaking in Brazil, Correa suggested late Tuesday that the
Colombian raid was carried out to prevent the liberation of
rebel-held hostages. He offered no proof, but said he agreed with
speculation that Colombia targeted Reyes "to prevent a deal for
the liberation of the hostages from going forward."
The FARC freed four hostages last week, and Chavez had pledged
to try to win the release of others.
The rebels said Tuesday that Reyes died "completing a mission
to arrange, through President Chavez, a meeting with (French)
President (Nicolas) Sarkozy" aimed at securing Betancourt's
release.
With troops moving to the frontiers, Venezuelan Agriculture
Minister Elias Jaua said his country had closed its border with
Colombia - which sees annual trade worth roughly $5 billion.
Despite the shrill rhetoric from the Andean governments, in
several border towns there was little sign of tension apart from
the turning away of trucks by Venezuelan border guards.
Contenting themselves by calling Chavez "crazy," Colombian
truckers lounged in the shade drinking beer and saying they hoped
the crisis didn't last long.
When the border is open, some 9,400 tons of merchandise cross
between Colombia and Venezuela in both directions each day, said
Jaime Sorzano, head of the cargo transport association.
"In the past, we've had episodes, problems, but like this
crisis no. It's unprecedented," he said.
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Associated Press writers Frank Bajak and Vivian Sequera in
Bogota, Colombia; Nestor Ikeda in Washington; Marco Sibaja in
Brasilia, Brazil; Alan Clendenning in Sao Paulo, Brazil; Andrew
Whalen in Lima, Peru; Christopher Toothaker in San Antonio,
Venezuela; and Fabiola Sanchez, Jorge Rueda and Ian James in
Caracas contributed to this report.