President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela threatened Colombia with war Sunday, mobilizing troops, tank units and fighter jets near the border between the countries after Colombian security forces killed a senior guerrilla in a rebel group that has warm ties to Venezuela’s government.
Seventeen members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, Latin America’s largest insurgent group, were killed in Ecuadorean territory on Saturday. On Sunday, Ecuador’s president ordered the mobilization of troops to the border with Colombia, The Associated Press reported. The killing also has generated a fierce diplomatic reaction from Ecuador and Venezuela.
President Rafael Correa of Ecuador, a supporter of Chavez, described the operation by Colombian troops as a “massacre” and a violation of Ecuador’s sovereignty. He withdrew his ambassador from Bogota, while Chavez said he was shutting down Venezuela’s embassy there.
Rhetorically at least, Chavez’s threat points to one of the most tense moments between Venezuela and Colombia in recent decades. Whether or not the saber-rattling produces conflict, Chavez stands to benefit from a distraction from social problems here, like food shortages and surging inflation.
Chavez couched his warning by saying he would react in the event of a Colombian raid to hunt down guerrillas in Venezuela. He taunted President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia, a Bush administration ally, calling him a “mafia boss,” “criminal,” “liar” and “lackey of the empire.”
“If you decide to do this in Venezuela, pal, we’ll send you a few Sukhois,” Chavez said, referring to the fighter jets Venezuela has recently acquired from Russia.
Chavez described the senior guerrilla, Raul Reyes, the second most powerful member of the FARC, as “a true revolutionary.” He said he had met with Reyes on three occasions from the 1990s onward, offering rare detail into Venezuela’s often murky ties to Colombia’s rebel groups.
Both the FARC and a smaller group, the National Liberation Army, operate along the border. Movements by uniformed members of both groups have been documented in western Venezuela. The FARC has also been reported to have operated without hindrance in eastern Ecuador.
Colombia’s government kept silent after Chavez’s threats, as it largely has done since a deterioration of ties that began in November when Uribe abruptly withdrew his support for Chavez’s mediation with the FARC.
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But in response to Ecuador’s protest, a government spokesman said Sunday evening that Colombia planned to apologize for violating Ecuador’s sovereignty by hunting down Reyes at a jungle camp in Ecuador near Colombia’s southern border.
Strengthening trade links among Andean countries suggest that the tension will soon die down.