Spring Break
OAS to convene emergency meeting
Mar. 5, 2008
Pablo Bachelet and Frances Robles - McClatchy NewspapersIssue date: 2/28/08 Section: MCT News
WASHINGTON _ Trying to quell a spiraling crisis between Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador, the Organization of American States agreed Tuesday to convene an emergency meeting of foreign ministers and was considering sending a special mission to Ecuador.
The mission would explore diplomatic options and investigate Colombia's Saturday raid to bomb a FARC guerrilla camp about one mile inside Ecuador, killing the top rebel commander known as Raul Reyes.
Details of the mission would be worked out later, diplomats said. Ecuador wants the mission to be a fact-finding one, while the United States argued it should be limited to seeking diplomatic solutions to the crisis.
Also Tuesday, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe announced plans to take Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to the International Criminal Court and accuse him of financing genocide, days after allegedly finding documents that suggest Chavez recently paid or promised the FARC $300 million.
Meanwhile Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa went to Peru for his first stop in a five-nation tour to drum up regional backing against Colombia's border incursion.
And in Washington, President Bush confirmed his unwavering support for Colombia. "I told Uribe that America will continue to stand with Colombia as it confronts violence and terror and fights drug traffickers," Bush said.
Bush used the opportunity to promote a free trade agreement with Colombia, but did not say how Washington might respond to the escalating Andean crisis, with Ecuador and Venezuela rushing troops to their Colombian borders.
The international flap began Saturday, when Colombian planes bombed a FARC camp in Ecuador and killed the organization's No. 2, Raul Reyes. The FARC announced Tuesday that former peace negotiator Joaquin Gomez, would replace Reyes as a member of the organization's ruling secretariat.
Colombia claims the bombs were fired in self defense from Colombia's side of the border, but acknowledges that helicopters with troops later flew to the camp to recover Reyes' body.
The mission would explore diplomatic options and investigate Colombia's Saturday raid to bomb a FARC guerrilla camp about one mile inside Ecuador, killing the top rebel commander known as Raul Reyes.
Details of the mission would be worked out later, diplomats said. Ecuador wants the mission to be a fact-finding one, while the United States argued it should be limited to seeking diplomatic solutions to the crisis.
Also Tuesday, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe announced plans to take Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to the International Criminal Court and accuse him of financing genocide, days after allegedly finding documents that suggest Chavez recently paid or promised the FARC $300 million.
Meanwhile Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa went to Peru for his first stop in a five-nation tour to drum up regional backing against Colombia's border incursion.
And in Washington, President Bush confirmed his unwavering support for Colombia. "I told Uribe that America will continue to stand with Colombia as it confronts violence and terror and fights drug traffickers," Bush said.
Bush used the opportunity to promote a free trade agreement with Colombia, but did not say how Washington might respond to the escalating Andean crisis, with Ecuador and Venezuela rushing troops to their Colombian borders.
The international flap began Saturday, when Colombian planes bombed a FARC camp in Ecuador and killed the organization's No. 2, Raul Reyes. The FARC announced Tuesday that former peace negotiator Joaquin Gomez, would replace Reyes as a member of the organization's ruling secretariat.
Colombia claims the bombs were fired in self defense from Colombia's side of the border, but acknowledges that helicopters with troops later flew to the camp to recover Reyes' body.
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