The Colombian raid on the FARC camp across the border in Ecuador in early March elevated diplomatic tensions between Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. Photo from Spiegel OnlineFrom TVNZ:
An Ecuadorean judge ordered the arrest of a former Colombian official involved in a 2008 bombing raid carried out in Ecuador, but Bogota refused to recognise his jurisdiction, intensifying cross-border diplomatic tensions.
In March of last year, then-Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos ordered the bombardment of a rebel camp set up on Ecuador's side of the border. Among those killed in the raid was Raul Reyes, a top commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
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My Comment: Colombia embarrassed the Ecuador Government when it was revealed that they had close ties with the FARC guerrillas. This court action is just another tactic from the Ecuadorian Government to divert attention away from themselves and have it put on the Colombian Government. Threatening an official who has a good possibility of becoming the next President of Colombia is not going to sit well in any future Colombian - Ecuador rapprochement.
2 comments:
This "reveleation" you speak about concerning the alleged links has yet to be proven. The links between Colombian government and its para-military Death Squads are beyond dispute.
Thank you for your comment.
FARCs close ties with Venezuela and Ecuador have been a matter of public record for a long time. The use of safe havens in Ecuador by FARC has also been known ... hence the Colombian strike onto Ecuador's territory. I had myself commented in 2007 that these safe havens would only result in retaliation from Colombian forces, which they did.
But interestingly .... since this strike by Colombia .... Ecuador has stepped up operations against FARC camps on their side of the border, and Venezuela has reigned in any FARC camps on their side of the border. To the best of my knowledge, there are no significant FARC camps in both countries now.
As for Colombian Government links to Para-Military squads .... this is why they have not been approved for "favor trading status".
But this is changing under the Obama administration. They have just signed a ten year pact with the Colombian Government to use a number of their bases (this post will be published on July 4), and I would not be surprised if favorable trading conditions will be passed soon by Both Congress and the White House.
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