Issue date: 9/24/09 Section: Editorial/Opinion

If they were not presidents of nations, Hugo Chavez would most likely want to punch Alvaro Uribe, and Uribe would in turn like to kick Rafael Correa.

Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela are neighbor countries in South America and are similar in culture and history. Instead of uniting over these similarities and trying to better the region, they are in a continuous verbal war. If they used the same energy they waste shooting bad words at each other to work together to fight poverty and corruption, they would no longer be considered third world countries.

Who is right? Is it worth it? Nobody knows. Although we all know they are jeopardizing the relationships between South American countries, Columbia is the only affected society.

March 1, 2009: Colombia screamed in happiness, Raúl Reyes was dead.

Reyes was one of the most important leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), before being murdered by the Colombian National Military Army. Reyes was chased for a substantial amount of time on the grounds of being charged for kidnapping and murdering. He was murdered last year in the middle of the night, while he was sleeping in a camp of the insurgent group in Ecuador territory. This is the beginning of a complicated and problematic relationship between Colombia and Ecuador.

On one side, there is Uribe, the president of Colombia, the one who let us know from the very beginning of his presidency that his objective is to eliminate the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). No matter how, when, or where. He is doing just that. The security police army found where Reyes was, and it was Uribe's opportunity to catch him. They bombarded him from the air and attacked him on land. All of this took place while Reyes was in Ecuador.

On the other side, there is Correa, the president of Ecuador, who is full of anger and indignity. Correa unleashed a serious diplomatic war that is still taking place between the two countries. Who wouldn't get mad if someone broke into your house and destroyed your backyard? Or even worse, hurt your kids?

Uribe didn't care about Correa's reaction, though. He had accomplished one of the biggest points in his government and one of the worst in the FARC history. Immediately, Correa brought back the ambassador of Ecuador in Colombia, kicked out the Colombians in Ecuador, mobilized troops to the border and requested for an extraordinary meeting of the OEA, CAN and MERCOSUR - institutions for the Latin-American integration.

Continued...

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