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NEWS
INTERNATIONAL PRESS
Colombia wants
charges against Chávez
Posted on Tue, Mar. 04, 2008
By FRANCES ROBLES
frobles@MiamiHerald.com
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa began a five-nation tour Tuesday to
denounce Colombia's cross-border attack into Ecuador, as Colombia's
president announced plans to take Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez to court
for allegedly harboring and financing terrorists.
Correa left Tuesday morning for Peru, where he is expected to meet with
President Alan García, Correa's office said. He will also meet with the
presidents of Brazil, Venezuela and Panama, ending his trip Friday at
the 20th Grupo de Río Summit in Santo Domingo.
Meanwhile, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe announced plans to denounce
Venezuela's Hugo Chávez before the International Criminal Court, where
he wants the Venezuelan leader charged with harboring terrorists.
The regional dispute began Saturday when Colombia fired at a
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia camp located in Ecuador, killing
the FARC's No. 2 leader, Raúl Reyes. Ecuador and Venezuela broke
diplomatic relations with Colombia and called troops to the border,
saying Colombia violated Ecuador's sovereignty.
Venezuela also said it would close its border with Colombia.
''This is unprecedented and unacceptable,'' Correa said at a press
conference Monday night. ``They talk about a FARC sanctuary in Ecuador,
when even in Colombia the FARC controls vast territories. Colombia knows
full well it's impossible to control such camps.''
The Colombian government accused Ecuador of having cozy relations with
the rebel leader and released documents that revealed secret meetings
between the FARC and Ecuadorean cabinet members and payments between
Chávez and the FARC.
Correa said his administration was in advanced talks with Reyes in
efforts to secure the release of high profile hostage Ingrid Betancourt
and suggested that could have been Colombia's true motive for the
attack. The French Foreign Ministry also said Tuesday it had been
communicating with Reyes to work toward a hostage release before he was
killed Saturday in a strike by Colombian security forces, the Associated
Press reported.
''We had contacts with Raúl Reyes, and I can tell you that the
Colombians were aware of it,'' French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman
Pascale Andreani said at a news briefing.
Correa is making the rounds to drum up support for Ecuador, although it
was unclear how Correa wanted the issue resolved. A member of his
administration said he spoke privately on the telephone with Cuban
leader Raúl Castro. Meanwhile, former leader Fidel blasted Colombia's
incursion.
''Imperialism just committed a monstrous crime in Ecuador,'' Fidel
Castro wrote in a column published in Tuesday's Cuban papers. ``Nobody
has the right to kill in cold blood.''
President Bush spoke on the telephone Tuesday with Colombia's Uribe, and
is expected to make a statement at 1 p.m. The Organization of American
States is slated to meet on the matter Tuesday afternoon.
''Colombia is proposing that the International Criminal Court charge
Hugo Chávez, the president of Venezuela, for the support and financing
of genocide,'' Uribe told journalists after meeting with an
ex-congresswoman who was recently freed by the FARC after more than six
years as a hostage.
Uribe did not explain what arguments against Chávez would be presented
to the Netherlands-based court.
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