The Andean crisis, which began when Colombia struck at leftist rebels camped in Ecuador, just won't die down: Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is rattling his saber like there's no tomorrow, and now documents captured from the guerillas appear to show that both Ecuador and Venezuela were negotiating with and perhaps directly aiding the rebels. I've bashed out a column for Comment is free eying the situation:
With the crisis nearing a flashpoint, it was clear that international mediation was needed. That put the US in an awkward position: as Colombia's major military backer, she couldn't simply sit on her hands while Uribe's security forces infringed on other nations' sovereignty. On the other hand, Washington couldn't credibly condemn the Colombian raid on principle. After all, the logic of the strike was virtually identical to that used to justify recent US raids against suspected terrorists in Pakistan and Somalia.Thankfully, the Organisation of American States took up the slack. After frantic negotiations, the OAS yesterday gave Uribe a public rap on the knuckles, declaring Colombia's initial attack to have been a violation of Ecuador's sovereignty - but crucially stopping short of condemning the raid outright. Colombia responded by playing down the threat of open conflict. Ecuador and Venezuela were less conciliatory, with Chávez accusing Uribe of "war crimes" and Correa continuing a diplomatic road-show aimed at drumming up moral outrage among Colombia's other neighbours.
Still, the OAS statement was an important first step. It gave both sides grounds to claim a degree of victory, and kept everyone at the negotiating table. The next move should be for OAS observers to examine the documents retrieved from the rebel camp. If Colombia's claims can be independently corroborated, much of the regional support for Ecuador and Venezuela's sabre-rattling will evaporate, while if the two countries are absolved they will have far less reason to keep stoking the flames. Nobody's likely to come out of this mess smelling of roses, but as long as everyone keeps talking it should be possible to keep the Andean border brouhaha from boiling over.
Read the full thing here.
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