Accusations that Correa and his ally Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez helped the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) stem from data found in the laptops of a slain rebel leader authenticated by the international police agency Interpol earlier this week. The disclosure has raised regional tensions.”If I had the most minimal relation with the FARC as candidate or as president I will resign as president,” Correa said in his weekly radio address. “We have never received illegal (campaign) contributions.”The popular ex-college professor said he handed over proof of his innocence to the Organization of American States amid accusations he also received money contributions from rebels during his presidential campaign in 2006.The diplomatic row highlighted deep divisions in the Andean region between U.S.-backed Colombia and Washington’s fierce critics Ecuador and Venezuela.Ecuador earlier this year severed diplomatic ties with Bogota and tensions have remained high after Colombia bombed a rebel camp inside Ecuador, killing Raúl Reyes, a top leader of the FARC and seizing his laptops.The March 1 raid briefly raised the threat of war after Correa and Chávez sent troops to their borders with Colombia.Correa accused Colombian President Álvaro Uribe of leading a smear campaign against him to divert attention from a scandal involving his allies at home and violent paramilitary groups.Both countries share a 400-mile-long (600-km-long) porous border that is often crossed by Colombian guerrillas to set up camps and plot attacks against the Uribe’s government.
