Bush to Colombia: We're with you
Reuters Mar 5, 08 7:07 AM CST
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Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, is in Brazil today, pushing for an apology from Colombia for its incursion into Ecuador to attack FARC guerrillas Saturday. While most Latin American nations, including Brazil, have condemned the cross-border attack, the White House yesterday unequivocally backed Colombia in the rapidly escalating crisis. Correa heads later today to Caracas to meet with Hugo Chavez who, like Correa, has massed troops on the border with Colombia.
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Ecuador cuts ties, says slain rebel leader was key in hostage deal
BBC Mar 4, 08 11:35 AM CST
(Newser)
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Colombia has accused Ecuador and Venezuela of cooperating with FARC guerrillas who were trying to buy uranium, the BBC reports, even as Ecuador cut ties with Colombia and Venezuela expelled its diplomats. “FARC is taking big steps in the world of terrorism to become a global aggressor,” said Colombia’s top cop, citing documents found during Saturday’s raid that detailed negotiations for 110 pounds of uranium.
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Ecuador, Venezuela send troops to Colombian borders
CNN Mar 3, 08 9:45 AM CST
(Newser)
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The tension in Latin America deepened last night as a Colombian general charged that Ecuador’s president had ties to a FARC leader killed by Colombian forces Saturday. Ecuador and Venezuela have both mobilized troops to their borders in response to the raid, which they claim took place on Ecuadorean territory. Colombia says its forces, attacking targets in Colombia, merely returned fire when FARC rebels shelled them from about a mile inside Ecuador.
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Venezuelan prez angry after rebel is killed
CNN Mar 2, 08 3:19 PM CST
(Newser)
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Hugo Chavez sent thousands of Venezuelan troops to the Colombian border today after Colombia killed a FARC rebel leader, CNN reports. Chavez accused Colombia of being a US puppet and said Ecuador's border was violated in the attack. "We have to liberate Colombia," said Chavez, who is linked to FARC and tried to negotiate a prisoners-for-hostages trade with it last year.
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He's the group's highest-ranking member to be killed
BBC Mar 1, 08 1:21 PM CST
(Newser)
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Colombian forces have for the first time killed one of FARC's top leaders, the BBC reports. The military attacked a rebel camp and killed Raul Reyes, a member of the group's ruling secretariat who had been a top candidate to take over the organization. The attack comes just days after FARC released four hostages, but President Uribe has rejected requests to grant the group concessions.
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Former presidential candidate gravely ill, says released captive
Reuters Feb 28, 08 8:21 PM CST
(Newser)
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A high-profile hostage still held by Colombian rebels is near death because of mistreatment and a lack of medicine, a former fellow captive said today. Ingrid Betancourt, seized by FARC rebels six years ago while campaigning for the presidency, is sick with hepatitis and liver problems, says Luis Eladio Perez, one of four hostages released yesterday. "It breaks my heart to have left her behind," he said.
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Prisoners were politicians, who had been held for more than 6 years
CNN Feb 27, 08 2:56 PM CST
(Newser)
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Colombian FARC rebels today set free four former Colombian legislators who had been held hostage for more than six years. The deal was brokered by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, and three of the four will fly to Caracas to speak with him. The fourth is in poor health and may require immediate medical treatment, reports CNN.
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Narcotics gangs are increasingly relying on submersibles to transport cocaine
Washington Post Feb 6, 08 7:41 PM CST
(Newser)
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Colombian drug cartels are increasingly relying on homemade submersibles to transport cocaine, the Washington Post reports, with 13 such vessels seized last year—more than in the previous 14 combined. The vehicles skim just under the waves, nearly invisible to sonar and aircraft. And even enforcement officials have grudging respect for the ingenuity the traffickers show in constructing them.
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Movement harnesses Facebook in mass rally
BBC Feb 5, 08 3:19 AM CST
(Newser)
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In a mammoth Facebook-inspired protest, as many as 2 million demonstrators flooded the streets of Bogota yesterday, and thousands more marched in other parts of Colombia and nearly 100 cities worldwide as people called for an end to Colombia's guerrilla group FARC. "No more kidnapping, no more lies, no more deaths, no more FARC," read protest banners.
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FARC guerrillas run cocaine through Venezuela
Guardian (UK) Feb 3, 08 2:19 PM CST
(Newser)
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Hugo Chavez recently grabbed headlines by brokering the release of two women held hostage by FARC, Colombia's guerrilla rebels. But Chavez was no neutral mediator: FARC operates openly in Venezuela, and even hand-in-hand with government agencies, both to wage war in Colombia and smuggle Colombian cocaine into Europe, the Guardian reports.
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Health reasons, Chavez's diplomatic role cited in release
BBC Feb 3, 08 1:00 PM CST
(Newser)
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Colombia’s FARC rebel group will release three lawmakers for health reasons after more than 6 years in captivity, the BBC reports. Taking a pointed side in the dispute between Hugo Chavez and Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, the rebels said in a statement to local media that they were releasing the hostages in response to Chavez’s mediation efforts.
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Prez urges quick action on international deals, offers help to affected workers
Wall Street Journal Jan 31, 08 11:21 AM CST
(Newser)
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Saying "free trade means good-paying jobs for Americans," President Bush yesterday urged Congress to approve proposed deals with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea, the core of a trade agenda he feels can revitalize a shaky US economy. Bush also offered to help lawmakers reshape benefits for workers who lose jobs to foreign competition, the Wall Street Journal reports.
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