Leftist-led allies Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela cut ties with Colombia and condemned the raid, which killed more than 20 guerrillas. Ecuador and Venezuela also sent troops to their borders with Colombia. “We’ll talk about renewing diplomatic relations. We’ll make a timetable. It’s going to take some time,” Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said in his weekly radio address on Saturday. Nicaragua and Venezuela announced they would reestablish ties with Colombia during a Latin American summit on Friday that ended in handshakes between leaders who had been verbally attacking each other all week. The diplomatic crisis was Latin America’s worst in years. It pitted U.S.-backed Colombia, which is fighting a four-decade insurgency by Marxist rebels, against leftist leaders in the increasingly anti-U.S. region. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is stridently opposed to the administration of President George W. Bush, led the anti-Colombian chorus. Ecuador and Venezuela said Colombia should be negotiating with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, to seek peace. But Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is popular at home because of his hard-line approach to the FARC, which has killed and kidnapped thousands of people.
The future of Colombia Reports is under threat. The country's largest independent news website needs your help. Please become our patron.