Tensions down after war threatens South America

After more than a week of heightened tensions brewing between Columbia, Equador and Venezuela, their presidents decided that after much conflict and lengthy debate, it was time to call a truce.
“With the commitment to never again attack a brother country and the request for forgiveness, we can consider this grave incident as over,” said President Rafael Correa of Ecuador,
The incident began on March 1 as an attack by Colombian troops on a training camp suspected of use by a group called the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

Also called FARC for their Spanish name, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, it is a guerilla group known for kidnapping and their links to drug trafficking, according to The Associated Press.

The attack on the training camp resulted in the death of Raul Reyes, one of seven in FARC’s secretariat. Reyes made a satellite phone call along the Ecuador border, and the call had been intercepted by the Colombian forces.

Another secretariat member, Ivan Rios, was shot to death by his own security chief, by the alias Rojas. When Colombian troops were closing in on him in his jungle hideout, the battle-weary Rojas presented the bloody hand to Colombian troops as proof of the deed.
“I did it to save my life,” said Rojas, reflecting on FARC’s policy of killing those among them who surrender. “Because if you’re going to desert, they’ll shoot you.”

In addition to the recent blows against their high leadership, FARC is also seeing weakness in the numbers of guerillas who are deserting it because they are tired of running from Colombia’s army.

The double hit to the FARC secretariat appeared to be a sign of hope for Colombian forces. Colombia, having received billions of dollars from the U.S. to fight guerilla warfare in the region, is now seeing progress in their six-year struggle against FARC, according to the AP.

The attack on the camp was considered a success, owing to the importance Colombia placed on its goal of disarming FARC.
Correa, labeling the attack as “a massacre,” called for the international condemnation of Colombia for crossing borders to carry out a raid that resulted in the death of 25 people on Ecuador’s territory.

Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, also denounced the action of the Colombian troops.“This could be the start of a war in South America,” Chavez said. “If you think of doing this in Venezuela, we are going to send you some Sukhoi fighter jets purchased from Russia.”

Colombia fired back with evidence that allegedly linked Chavez to FARC, and Chavez called Colombia’s president, Alvaro Uribe, a puppet of the U.S. government.
“Chavez is facing an extremely difficult situation,” said Carlos Malamud, an analyst of Latin America at the Royal Elcano Institute in Madrid, Spain. “His popularity has dropped considerably and his greatest concern is the lack of basic products on the shelves.”

Maria Marsilli, a history professor at John Carroll University, said that it is the result of collective tension from social and political issues.“You have the perfect combination for quite a bit of social tension going on in the area,” said Marsilli. She added, “It’s about trying to make political gains about a crisis that is already going on.”

The United States is also in a difficult situation. In addition to being backers of the Colombian government and military efforts, they are also heavy buyers of Venezuelan oil. Despite predominant support for Colombia, they have political ties to both sides.

Although there are still troops from both Ecuador and Venezuela guarding their borders to Colombia, all sides have officially made peace. Diplomatic relations that had been broken were restored, and the Colombian embassies in Ecuador and Venezuela were reopened, according to the AP.