In the course of six days Latin America went from the brink of
war between Colombia and Ecuador/Venezuela to smiling handshakes
and a pledge from Colombia’s president “never to invade a brother
nation again.”
U.S.-trained Colombian special forces had tracked a rebel
fighting group of FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de
Colombia) to one of their sanctuary encampments about one and a
half miles inside Ecuador. The Colombians attacked, killing 22
along with one of FARC’s top commanders, Raul Reyes. It would have
been far better if Reyes had been captured alive, but the Colombian
forces have a tendency to shoot first and ask questions
afterward.
Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe considered it a great victory.
His Ecuadorian counterpart, Rafael Correa, vigorously proclaimed it
a shameful invasion of his country. And true to form, Venezuela’s
president, Hugo Chavez, denounced the action as another example of
the United States’ brutal ambition to control all of Latin America.
Chavez did his best imitation of an outraged defender of democracy
and swiftly threatened that this portended a widening regional
conflict.
Venezuela’s paratrooper president then ordered “brigades” of
tanks and infantry to prevent Colombia’s “Washington-guided
ambitions” from spilling over into his country. With a growing
scarcity of basic foodstuffs and a high inflation rate, this was
just the political military excuse Chavez wanted to distract his
increasingly disenchanted citizenry.
Venezuelans had voted against Chavez’s s recent constitutional
referendum, sought to abolish term limits for his presidency. Using
the old Fidel trick of conjuring dangers from the United States —
in this case utilizing the one and a half mile border crossing —
he hoped to keep the lid on his own domestic dissidents.
President Alvaro Uribe characterized the Colombian special
forces operation as a crushing blow against what he has termed in
the past as “the narco-terrorist activities of the leaders of FARC
and their Marxist/Leninist criminal gang.” Uribe appeared quite
confident his U.S.-trained and equipped forces could handle
anything Chavez’s military could throw at them.
Meanwhile, Ecuador’s left-leaning President Rafael Correa,
Chavez’s political buddy, stomped around the continent seeking
support for action to be taken at the Organization of American
States condemning the Colombian invasion. He broke relations with
Bogota with the loud approval of Chavez who also announced he would
expel the Colombian ambassador to Venezuela.
Each of the three leaders was vying for a post-Oscar award for
“Best Performance by a Latin American Leader with Enormous
Ego.”
AS TO BE EXPECTED, rumors are now flying throughout the region
regarding the true nature of the affair. Perhaps the most
intriguing comment comes out of Quito where the Ecuadorean public,
starved for excitement, will encourage any story with an
interesting twist. Purportedly, some of that nation’s generals,
unhappy with the Correa government’s policy of providing sanctuary
to the Colombian guerrillas, secretly passed the location of the
FARC contingent to Colombian military intelligence.
In their heyday a few years ago FARC reportedly had been earning
around $300 million per year from their activities involving
protection for narcotics traffickers, kidnapping for ransom, and
guarding coca farms. Operations against FARC have been assisted by
the $5.5 billion U.S. program called Plan Colombia. This ongoing
project provides, among other things, American military trainers
and equipment for specialized units of the Colombian army.
Plan Colombia has been challenged by the Democrat majority in
Congress as not effective against cocaine export in spite of the
stepped-up effort against FARC and the narcotics traffickers. They
are worried that the military and police solution undercuts local
social and economic improvements.
The Colombian Army and President Uribe deny these charges. Good
arguments can be given for both sides, but no one denies the
substantial improvement of Colombia’s armed forces and their
anti-rebel operations in the past few years.
Perhaps the most interesting intelligence to come out of the
successful cross-border operation is the reported recovery of a
computer. According to the Colombians, the computer contained
documentation indicating FARC had been attempting to obtain uranium
with which to construct a “dirty bomb.”
Whether this and other information confirming transfer of $300
million to FARC by Venezuela is true or merely some heavy-handed
Colombian propaganda is up for scrutiny. Whatever the case, the
entire affair has been plastered over by the kiss-and-makeup
session among the three presidents during the Latin American summit
in the Dominican Republic.
If you believe that theatrical performance, the Organization of
American States has a canal across the Andes they’ll sell you!
