CARACAS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's president,
Hugo Chavez, on Sunday formally ordered the nation's armed forces to be on high
alert, the closure of Venezuela's embassy in Colombia and the mobilization of
the nation's armed forces to the Colombia border.
"We are at a state of alertness. I am putting
Venezuela on alert and we will support Ecuador," Chavez told his regular Sunday
broadcast Alo Presidente. "Defense minister: move 10 battalions to the
Colombia-Venezuela border. Tank battalions, military aircraft: deploy!" he
ordered.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez speaks
during his weekly broadcast 'Alo Presidente' in Caracas March 2,
2008. (Xinhua/AFP Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
During the
same broadcast, Chavez strongly condemned the killing of Luis Edgar Devia,
better known by the alias Raul Reyes, who was the de facto foreign minister for
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), that nation's largest armed
rebel group.
The Colombian army killed Devia in Ecuadorian
territory. Ecuador responded with a protest letter sent via diplomatic channels.
Chavez told the broadcast audience that he had
received a phone call from Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, in which Correa
said he had recalled Ecuador's ambassador to Colombia and ordered the
mobilization of troops to Ecuador's northern border with Colombia.
Venezuelan soldiers line up prior to
board a military transport at Fort Paramacay in Valencia, Venezuela,
Sunday, March 2, 2008. (Xinhua/AFP Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
"Let all
diplomatic officials return. We are in a state of alert and we will back Ecuador
in whatever circumstance," Chavez added.
He said that Colombia's military leaders had
recognized that they had deliberately invaded Ecuadorian territory, something
that is extremely serious. It could be the start of a South American war," he
said.
Chavez also said that he would not take part in the
next South American Union of Nations meeting set for late March in Colombia's
capital Bogota.
Chavez went on to describe Colombia's president,
Alvaro Uribe, as a criminal. "Not only is he a liar, a mafia boss, a
paramilitary who leads a narco-government and leads a government that is a
lackey of the United States ..., he leads a band of criminals from his palace."
Venezuela shares 2,219 kilometers of border with
Colombia. From August to November last year, Chavez took part in mediations
between the Colombian government and the FARC, which led to the release of
hostages in the early part of this year. However, Uribe fired Chavez from the
mediation role for allegedly breaking protocol.
QUITO, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Ecuadorian government
ordered on Sunday to withdraw its ambassador from Colombia, Francisco Suescum,
saying it was protesting "a transgression of the principles of sovereignty and
territorial integrity" by Colombia's army.
Jose Valencia, Ecuador's deputy foreign minister, told
media that the measure does not imply the end of a relationship with its
northern neighbor, because trade links remain intact. Full story
BOGOTA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Colombia stepped up its
security Sunday against possible retaliation from the country's largest rebel
group after the killing of the group's No. 2 leader Raul Reyes.
Colombia's Interior Minister Carlos Holguin said he
doubted the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) had the capacity to
revenge the death of Reyes, whose real name is Luis Edgar Navia Silva. Full story
BOGOTA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Colombia's Foreign Ministry,
in a Sunday statement, formally denied violating Ecuador's sovereignty in a
Saturday operation that killed the number two in the nation's largest armed
rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
"Colombia did not violate Ecuador's sovereignty, instead
it acted in line with the principle of legitimate self-defense," said the
statement. "Terrorists have been killing in Colombia and invading neighboring
nations to take refuge," it added. Full story
CARACAS/BOGOTA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Colombian
government's latest victory in its anti-rebel attack seems to further cool the
already-chilled Venezuela-Colombia ties as Venezuela warned of a war with
Colombia should a similar cross-border attack occurs in Venezuela.
The Colombia military killed Raul Reyes, one of the
seven-member secretariat of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC),
the country's largest anti-government group, in an attack on a jungle camp
across the Colombia-Ecuador border on Saturday, Defense Minister Juan Manuel
Santos told reporters in the Colombian capital of Bogota. Full story
