Archive for the ‘provocation’ tag
Venezuela, Ecuador Mobilize at Colombian Border #
The conventional wisdom will tell you that Latin America’s a rather calm and quiet place. Such CW make news like this harder to wrap your head around.
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. […]
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.
How much of this is a show for internal political gains — both Correa and Chavez are leftists who are sure to gain some greater support by painting Columbia’s action as American provocation — and how much is genuine is still open to debate.