Crisis Ends With Hugs,
Handshakes and Applause
Hugs and handshakes
between the presidents
of Colombia, Ecuador,
Nicaragua and Venezuela
put an end to a
week-long political and
diplomatic crisis that
threatened to escalate
into a regional
conflict.
The Rio Group, a
mechanism of political
consultation and
coordination created by
eight democratic
governments in the
region two decades ago,
experienced its finest
moment ever on Friday,
first with a fierce
debate among the
presidents involved in
the conflict, and later
with their decision to
put an end to the crisis
triggered by Colombia’s
Mar. 1 bombing raid on a
rebel camp in Ecuador,
and to re-establish
diplomatic ties.
It was a personal
triumph for Dominican
Republic President
Leonel Fernández, who
hosted this week’s 20th
Rio Group summit and
who, in the middle of
the debate, picked up on
the signals sent out by
the participants
indicating that they
preferred agreement over
confrontation.
Paradoxically, it was
one of the most
outspoken critics of the
system of Rio Group
summits, Venezuelan
President Hugo Chávez,
who opened the door to
an agreement while his
counterparts from
Colombia, Álvaro Uribe,
on one hand, and from
Ecuador, Rafael Correa,
and Nicaragua, Daniel
Ortega, on the other,
traded verbal
broadsides.
"It is time for
reflection and action,
we are still on time to
stop a whirlpool that we
could regret, and not
only us, but our people,
children and
communities, for who
knows how long," said
the Venezuelan leader.
"Let’s stop this. Let’s
be cool-headed and act
like rational people,
because if we continue,
this will keep heating
up," said Chávez.
Fernández took it from
there, calling for hugs.
Uribe stood up and
walked over to a
reluctant Correa, and
they shook hands. The
Colombian leader then
went over to shake
Chávez’s hand, and
finally did the same
with Ortega.
Later the four leaders
embraced their host and
the two female
presidents in the group,
Cristina Fernández of
Argentina and Michelle
Bachelet of Chile.
The conflict broke out
when the Colombian
military bombed a
Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC)
camp in northern Ecuador
on Mar. 1, killing the
group’s international
spokesman, Raúl Reyes,
and at least 20 other
guerrillas.
Ecuador broke off
relations with Colombia,
moved troops to its
border, and demanded an
apology and a promise
that Bogotá would never
again make an incursion
into its territory.
Venezuela, for its part,
closed its embassy in
Bogotá and also
mobilised troops and
tanks to the Colombian
border.
The conflict further
escalated when Colombia
claimed to have
discovered, on a laptop
belonging to Reyes found
in the camp, documents
and evidence of alleged
ties between the FARC
and the governments of
Ecuador and Venezuela.
Uribe went so far as to
say that he would ask
the International
Criminal Court to bring
genocide charges against
Chávez for supposedly
giving financial and
logistical support to
the FARC.
The Organisation of
American States (OAS)
Permanent Council met on
Wednesday and approved a
resolution that stated
that Bogotá violated
Ecuador's national
sovereignty but stopped
short of condemning
Colombia. It also
established a commission
to carry out a
fact-finding mission,
and scheduled a meeting
of foreign ministers for
Mar. 17.
Nicaragua not only
backed Ecuador, but
expressed its own
criticism of Colombia in
the context of a
long-standing sea border
dispute between Bogotá
and Managua, which is
being considered by the
International Court of
Justice in The Hague.
And on Thursday, Ortega
broke off ties with
Colombia.
The Rio Group summit in
Santo Domingo, whose
focus was the energy and
environmental crisis in
the Caribbean, thus
became the scenario for
the leaders to discuss
the situation face to
face.
Correa demanded a more
straightforward apology,
without conditions, from
Colombia, said he was in
favour of peace, and
staunchly denied that he
was a friend or ally of
the FARC, stressing that
"this conflict burdens
us with the cost of
maintaining 11,000 men
guarding the border,
more than 100 million
dollars, and poses a
risk to the lives and
property of
Ecuadorians."
Uribe described the
difficulties of dealing
with leftist and
far-right irregular
armed groups, said the
FARC are terrorists
because they are not
fighting a dictatorship
but a democratic
government, and, as he
had done earlier this
week, apologised for
carrying out the bombing
raid without previously
informing the Correa
administration.
Chávez, meanwhile, who
in the past has called
Uribe a "pawn of the
(U.S.) empire," was more
restrained than usual.
"Get it out of your head
that this is a plan of
the ‘empire.’ My choices
and my actions are the
rebellion of a nation
against violence," said
Uribe.
Correa said there was no
reason for Uribe to turn
to an international
court, stating that
"these hands are not
tainted with blood," and
called for the creation
of "an international
force to control the
border, which Colombia
won’t or can’t control
with its militaristic
policies."
In the midst of the war
of words, Argentine
President Fernández said
that "illegal means
should not be combated
with more illegal
means," urged that
international law be
upheld, and deplored the
vehement style of some
of her fellow
presidents, who laughed
at her quip that "today
we women have been more
rational than some men."
But in the end, they all
yielded to President
Leonel Fernández’s plea
to leave the crisis
behind and to show their
people that they had
done so, by giving each
other a hug.
"I accept, I am a man
without an ego and I
assume my
responsibility," said
Uribe.
"With the commitment to
never attack a sister
nation again and by
asking forgiveness, we
can consider this
extremely serious
incident resolved," said
Correa.
As the presidents shook
hands and embraced, the
summit participants
broke out in applause.
Over the microphones
could be heard the
exchange in which Uribe
and Ortega asked each
other to keep their
ships and fishing boats
to the east and west,
respectively, of the
82nd meridian, which is
the de facto sea border
until the court in The
Hague hands down its
final, binding decision.
When they returned to
their seats, Ortega
announced that he was
re-establishing ties
with Colombia, and Uribe
said he would not accuse
Chávez in the
International Court of
Justice.
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