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Today's Top News
Venezuela Accuse Colombia of War Crimes
CARACAS - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused his Colombian counterpart of war crimes as Venezuela and Ecuador turned up the heat on Bogota over its military strike on a insurgent camp inside Ecuador.
"A war crime occurred there," Chavez charged late Wednesday at a joint press conference with Ecuadoran counterpart Rafael Correa in Caracas, where the two men discussed the crisis."We also want peace, but we cannot accept under any pretext that the Colombian government uses Ecuadoran territory to implant imperialist doctrine," added Chavez in reference to Colombia's ally, the United States.
Correa urged the international community to issue a "clear condemnation" of Colombia for its cross-border incursion, as both countries boosted their military presence on their respective borders with Colombia.
Correa welcomed a statement by the 34-member Organization of American States (OAS) saying Colombia had violated Ecuador's sovereignty as an "important first step" -- but he demanded more.
"If Ecuador doesn't get satisfaction, we'll know how to exact it with our own methods, and the OAS and the international community, by their silence and omissions, will be the guilty ones," Correa said.
Colombia's attack Saturday on a camp of Colombian leftist rebels located just inside Ecuador killed the group's number-two and sparked a diplomatic crisis.
Bogota claimed, after seizing laptops in the raid, that Ecuador and Venezuela had been providing support to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who have been fighting Colombia's government for four decades.
Both Quito and Caracas denied the claims, expelled Colombia's ambassadors and cut off diplomatic ties.
Ecuador and Venezuela moved troops to their respective borders with Colombia, which in turn received verbal support from the United States as regional diplomats scrambled to defuse the crisis.
Venezuelan military officials confirmed Wednesday that 10 army battalions -- around 6,000 men -- had been sent to the Colombian frontier.
Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos, speaking in Brussels, said his country would not "cede to provocation", while the White House said it was "a little bit premature" to consider US military aid.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has called for Chavez to be tried by the International Criminal Court for allegedly paying 300 million dollars to the FARC, on the basis of documents he said were in a rebel laptop.
On Wednesday, he met four experts to draft the formal demand, one of whom said Colombia had "enough information" to show Chavez provided "intentional and systematic help to a terrorist organization."
Chavez said the threat of an ICC trial made him laugh.
"I challenge Uribe to see who comes out condemned for supporting genocide, violence, paramilitaries, invasions of other countries, I've lost count," he said.
But Chavez said that despite the row with Colombia, he would continue working for the release of more FARC hostages.
The rebels recently released six hostages to Chavez, but still hold around 700 more, including Ingrid Betancourt, a dual French-Colombian national kidnapped in 2002 as she campaigned for the Colombian presidency.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking on Colombian television, on Thursday encouraged the FARC to continue what he called its "strategy of humanitarian release".
A military official in Colombia subsequently announced that the FARC had freed four Colombian tourists who had been seized in northwestern Colombia in January.
© 2008 Agence France Presse
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9 Comments so far
Show AllGOD! Young people today. I miss the old days, when to be a war criminal you had to conquer another country, gas at least a hundred non-combatants, or torture some POW's. Now torturing people isn't a war crime, but killing members of an armed rebellion is. What has the world come to?
Chavez is our Man in the South ...
STOP
I am our Man in the North!
STOP
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Jim Hussein Glover
I don't know people, I think it was a pretty good article ...I mean I really get affected by this stuff.
doesn't bein a news reader make ya feel a bit abused sometimes?
my friend in equador said:
"The US and all of our present candidates are idiots. Colombian forces invaded this this nation. They used cluster bombs. There were signs of machine gun fire from their planes in the FARC camp. After that they send in paratroopers in copters to remove two of the bodies leaving 19 more dead and 3 wounded who are now in stable condition in hospitals here. They have not said anything as to what happened yet. I have seen footage of the "camp", lean toos with branches and zinc roofing materials all blown to hell. But somehow they miraculously found two laptops with info that Ecuadorian Security Minister (their Homeland Security) was negociating and colaborating with with the FARC in general and Raul Reyes specifically. The minister said that was true it was done in conjunction with the French president with the Colombian president's knowledge and consent to gain the liberty of 12 hostages among them 3 american "contractors". They were scheduled to be released sometime this month now that is shot for sure. At first the Colombians were saying that they were attacked first by them, but when even their press releases showd that Reyes was in his PJ's they had to take that back. Every country in South America has stated that Colombia had no right to do what they did as has Panama and Costa Rica. The Organization Of American States is meeting in a special session today. I can hardly wait to see what the US rep says. All three candidtates statements have been that Colombia is our "friend" and allie. Save me anything that the US press says about this. All things considered who cares in the Us"
Love
Hi et al,
I wonder, as I remember General George Washington with free farmers fighting the British Empire for fairness and independence from Kings...Now we are the Kings and killing new Washington's and poor farmers around the world and next perhaps space...
We are a sad lot and all new Washington's are terrorists plain and simple without Jesus to protect them...
Chavez has a achieved a significance in his sphere that is not being respected. That is part of this dilemma.
The oil reserves of Venezuela, its status in OPEC, and its control over the currency of petroleum transactions -- together with Chavez' tremendous support at home and the quality of democracy there relative to here, mean that Chavez must be treated with respect.
He has the status, but not the respect of the US. It would be as if the US still treated the King of Saudi Arabia, or the Presidents of Russia and China the same way as it treats third world, banana republic dictators.
From a practical standpoint, the Realist school of foreign policy, we need to change course with Chavez because he has the goods to do us serious economic harm. From a moral standpoint -- well, when was that ever relevant in foreign policy? Anyway, Chavez acts like a Christian with his people. In other words, he needs to be assassinated before this socialistic democracy thing gets contagious.
"Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has called for Chavez to be tried by the International Criminal Court for allegedly paying 300 million dollars to the FARC, on the basis of documents he said were in a rebel laptop."
This guy is living on another planet. $300 million is like pocket change compared to the $9 billion in CASH that was shipped to Iraq and can't be accounted for. $9 BILLION just doesn't vanish into thin air! Someone (or many someones) got that money.
And how about the missing $Trillions that can't be accounted for at the Pentagon, according to Donald Rumsfeld? We know that Alan Greenspan or Ben Bernanke didn't drop it out of a hellicopter for "we the people" to pick up.
Colombia another US proxy puppet....so sad, Uribe now being coaxed by Cheney to fight a real war as opposed to the never ending war on drugs. Hugo, dont take the bait, OAS and many progressives sympathize and as US latin voters become more informed of S. American policy, will have to o persuade the DEM or REP prez in 2009 to approach Venezuela, Cuba and others with an open mind and open heart, not gritted teeth, not clenched fists, and rattling sabres. I posted this stuff a week or two ago before this crap started with FARC/Ecuadro. Funny how things started going good for Hugo with hostage releases, this "incursion" breaks out. One more mess for the new prez to clean up or worsen. The new president of the US should consult with Bill Parcells, both have a huge mess to clean up. (Parcells is the new boss of Miami Dolphins, sorry folks, still a sports fan like any other 'merican).
Glover and Mirf, right on. It's oil and all parties involved, US, Cuba, Venezuela, etc, could bask in relative calm, but one more thing for the NEO CONNERS to muck up. The New American Century my A$$ - see also 1,000 year Reich. Thanks George and Dick (sarcasm of course).
The 300 million is a bogus claim from a puppet regime: http://www.gregpalast.com/300-million-from-chavez-to-farc-a-fake/