Holy crap, where did this come from?
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is sending thousands of troops and tanks to the border with Colombia, marking a sharp escalation in regional tensions.Speaking on his weekly television show, President Chavez also said Venezuela's embassy in Colombia would close.
Mr Chavez said he was reacting to the "cowardly murder" of a leading Farc rebel by Colombian forces in a raid just inside Ecuador on Saturday.
Later, Ecuador recalled its ambassador to Bogota in protest at the incursion.
Raul Reyes and at least 16 other rebels were killed in the operation, which took place about 1.8km (one mile) inside Ecuadorean territory.
Politics
Comments
Yikes! Let's hope Bush doesn't remember the Monroe Doctrine, otherwise we could be at war in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Venezuela come election time.
Posted by: chezjake | March 2, 2008 7:23 PM
Just sabre-rattling .... I sincerely hope!
Posted by: csrster | March 3, 2008 5:59 AM
There have been many reports of Columbian forces crossing the Venezuelan border to pursue FARC militants - so if anything, I suspect that the roles of invader / invadee are exactly the other way around. I know these things are frequently confused in the US, but generally it's the country sending forces into other countries that's considered the invader, regardless of how well their government gets on with Washington.
I also notice the while the actual news report is of a Columbian military incursion into Ecuador, the headline on this post mysteriously does not read "Columbia invades Ecuador". Is Columbia another one of those countries with some kind of magic right to do whatever the hell it wants as far as the US is concerned?
Posted by: Dunc | March 4, 2008 7:25 AM
Dunc: In short, yes.
Posted by: Andrew | March 4, 2008 8:46 AM