Chavez sends tanks to Colombian border
Sunday, 2 March 2008Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered tank battalions to the Colombian border and mobilised warplanes after Colombian troops struck inside Ecuador in an attack on rebels
He also ordered the shutting of Venezuela's embassy in Colombia and the withdrawal of all diplomatic staff in the dispute, warning Colombia's actions could spark a war in South America.
'Mr Defence Minister, move me 10 battalions to the frontier with Colombia immediately, tank battalions,' Chavez said on his weekly TV show. 'The air force should mobilise. We do not want war.'
Colombia's military said yesterday that troops had killed Raul Reyes, a leader of FARC rebels, during an attack on a jungle camp in Ecuador in a severe blow to Latin America's oldest militant insurgency. The operation included air strikes and fighting with rebels across the frontier.
