fresh off the presses.....

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela and Ecuador have ordered troops to their borders with Colombia, raising concerns of a broader conflict after Colombia killed a top rebel leader on Ecuadorean soil.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday promised Venezuela would respond militarily if Colombia violates its border, where he ordered tanks as well as thousands of troops. He also ordered closed Venezuela's embassy in Bogota.

Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, called for the troop deployment while also withdrawing his government's ambassador from Bogota and expelling Colombia's top diplomat.

"There is no justification," Correa said Sunday night, snubbing an earlier announcement from Colombia that it would apologize for the incursion by its military.

Chavez called the killing of rebel leader and spokesman Raul Reyes and 16 other rebels on Saturday an attack by a "terrorist state."

"Mr. Defense Minister, move 10 battalions to the border with Colombia for me, immediately — tank battalions. Deploy the air force," Chavez said during his weekly TV and radio program. "We don't want war, but we aren't going to permit the U.S. empire, which is the master (of Colombia) ... to come divide us."

Correa said Colombia deliberately carried out the strike beyond its borders. He said the rebels were "bombed and massacred as they slept, using precision technology."

The Ecuadorean leader said Colombia violated Ecuador's airspace when it bombed the rebel camp, which the Colombian military said was located 1.1 miles from the border.

Colombian officials have long complained that Ecuador's military does not control its sparsely populated border, allowing rebels to take refuge.

The same holds true for Venezuela, where rebel deserters say the guerrillas routinely rest, train, obtain medical care and smuggle drugs. Chavez denies that his country provides refuge to the FARC.

In a statement, Colombia said FARC "terrorists" including Reyes "have had the custom of killing in Colombia and taking refuge in the territory of neighboring countries."

Colombia's police commander Gen. Oscar Naranjo said documents from a computer seized where Reyes was killed suggested Ecuador's president is deepening relations with the FARC.

The two documents, copies of which were obtained independently by The Associated Press, were apparently written by Reyes in the past two months and addressed to the high command of the FARC. An Ecuadorean government spokesman called the Colombian claims a lie.

Ecuadorean soldiers recovered the semi-nude bodies of 15 rebels in their jungle camp, the corpses scattered around the site along with pieces of clothing, shoes, a refrigerator, guns and grenades.

Soldiers stood guard at the camp, saying they also found three wounded women, who were evacuated by helicopter to be treated. One was a Mexican philosophy student injured by shrapnel, while the other two were Colombians, said Ecuador's defense minister, Welington Sandoval.

Ecuadorean officials found that there were two bomb attacks on the camp early Saturday, Lt. Col. Jose Nunez told reporters in the remote village of Angostura, where the bodies were found.

Colombian commandos removed the cadavers of Reyes and one other rebel.

Chavez called the raid "cowardly murder, all of it coldly calculated."

"This could be the start of a war in South America," Chavez said. He warned Uribe: "If it occurs to you to do this in Venezuela, President Uribe, I'll send some Sukhois" — Russian warplanes recently bought by Venezuela.

The situation tested already tense relations between Venezuela and Colombia, though cross-border trade has not yet been seriously affected.

Chavez did not specify how many troops was sending to the border. A Venezuelan battalion traditionally has roughly 600 soldiers.

"Undoubtedly the recent actions on the part of Colombia and Venezuela's response raise the risk for armed conflict," said Miguel Tinker Salas, a Latin American studies professor at Pomona College in Claremont, California. "Although it is unlikely we will see military confrontations, what is clear is that Colombia has been pursuing a military solution to its own internal problem, ... drawing in Ecuador and Venezuela."

Chavez has increasingly revealed his sympathies for the FARC, and in January asked that it be struck from lists of terrorist groups internationally.

The leftist FARC has been fighting Colombia's government for more than four decades, and funds itself largely through the cocaine trade and kidnaps for ransom and political ends.

OK DOC WHAT IS YOUR POINT!!!!????

A war in the western hemispere, your back yard?

could be interesting to see unfold, finally the war on drugs as it should have been fought in the 80's or were most of you not around or involved inthe 80's cocaine fashion show?

or would it be about venzi's oil too?

I am certain that the liberals would say it was all about venzuela's oil, by proxy through the columbians....

like using the money from cocaine sales to fight for more oil? hahaha

seeing how close the action is getting to us and the fact that Canada sort of forgot about the military when the Liberals were in power I traded in my vehicle for something more appropriate but I have to admit it's not that good on fuel....

thats some fuuuunny stuff. can I get the name of the dealer, dont think my jeep is going to cut it.


oooh, and sorry for the cut and paste jobby but it didnt think i could convey the tory appropriately so early in the morning.

Definately a Zionist Conspiracy

if your going to say that you have to be sitting on a yellow motorcycle...

nice tank, yank.

LMAO

hmmmm....you say that sitting in the cockpit of a hellcat...I hope we're both on the same side....

Ummm....Unless he's changed the pic, that's an F4U-1D Corsair.

Lindyy says:

The old saying 'he ain't playing with a full deck.'

"Chavez never had a deck to play with to begin with."
Rather scarey.


Lindyy

Lindyy says:

Something even more scarey - madman viewed my profile!

Lindyy.......

We all extend our deepest sympathy to you in this horrific moment of your life. Our prayers are with you.

Son of a gun, I guess we all know whose puppets are running Columbia. And working on getting Ecuador and definitely would love to get their hands on Chevez's OIL. Now especially that Chevez too has quit selling his oil for federal reserve notes.(Euros)That is what hurried our war planes to Iraq when Saddum did that Euro trick.Russia, Iran ,Kuwait , and Saudia Arabia , I hear also did that little Money trick, I guess they know who the REAL ENEMY IS? Our Money men are getting pinched pretty hard these days, Maybe we will get our Constitutional money system before long.

the Zionist Conspiracy is just getting bigger and bigger!
it's stupendous. it's intergalactic!!

Aieeeeeee!!

He wanted to see what his best buddies looked like.