Brazilian President Lula
Calls Chavez "A Great
Peacemaker"
Brazilian President Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva
Thursday hailed the role
played by his Venezuelan
counterpart Hugo Chavez
in the Colombia-Ecuador
crisis, saying he was
"the great peacemaker."
"Who was the great
peacemaker in the
conflict between
Colombia and Ecuador? It
was clearly President
Chavez," Lula told a
news conference in the
northern Brazilian city
of Recife, on the second
day of a visit by
Chavez.
Chavez helped prevent
what seemed to be the
beginning of a serious
conflict in the region
on March 1, when
Colombian troops
attacked in Ecuadorian
territory a camp of the
Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC),
the country's largest
rebel group, he said.
The attack killed 25
FARC members, including
the group's No.2 Raul
Reyes.
Ecuador broke off
diplomatic ties with
Colombia after the
attack, calling the raid
a violation of its
territorial sovereignty.
The conflict briefly
aroused fears of war in
the Andean region as
Ecuador and Venezuela
ordered troops to their
borders with Colombia.
On March 7, Ecuador,
Venezuela and Colombia
agreed to declare the
border crisis over at
the 20th Rio Group
Summit in the Dominican
Republic after Chavez
announced reconciliation
with Colombia.
"The pacifying discourse
of Chavez allowed that
meeting to become a
productive meeting,"
Lula said. |
|
