Ecuador Crisis looms over Rio Group summit

The presidents of Venezuela and Ecuador kept the pressure on Colombia as they arrived in the Dominican capital late Thursday. The Rio Group summit was to have focused on energy and other issues, but the diplomatic crisis in the Andes now has center stage.Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa told reporters he wants Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to apologize for Saturday’s military attack against leftist Colombian rebels in Ecuadorean territory, as well as his “formal and firm commitment” that Colombia will never “violate” the sovereignty of another country.On his arrival in Santo Domingo, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made jibes at Colombia and the United States, which has supported the Andean nation with more than $4 billion in counterinsurgency and anti-drug aid since 2000.”The U.S. empire has taken over Colombia,” Chavez said.Chavez claimed the strike that killed Raul Reyes, a top leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, was “planned and directed” by the U.S. Later, he said he had information that “gringo soldiers” participated in the attack, but provided no evidence to back the claim.