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LATIN AMERICA |
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Ecuador Says U.S. Helped Colombia Plan '08
Bombing
QUITO (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence from
inside Ecuador was used to plan a 2008
bombing by Colombian troops that killed a
top FARC guerrilla chieftain inside
Ecuadorean territory, the government said on
Thursday.
A 130-page report prepared by the Ecuadorean
government says U.S. forces then based in
the Pacific coast town of Manta helped
Colombian troops target Raul Reyes, No. 2
commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces
of Colombia (FARC).
The March 2008 bombing, carried out in an
Ecuadorean border area called Angostura,
triggered a diplomatic crisis in the region.
Ecuador and Colombia are just now
reestablishing diplomatic ties severed by
Quito after the raid.
Ecuador has since ended its Manta
cooperation agreement, prompting Washington
to sign a deal with Colombia in October
allowing U.S. forces to carry out anti-drug
operations from seven Colombian military
bases.
"The strategic intelligence processed at the
base in Manta was fundamental in tracking
down and locating Raul Reyes as the primary
target," the report says. "The Manta pact,
aimed at controlling drug trafficking, went
beyond its purpose."
Several left-leaning Latin American
governments object to the new U.S.-Colombia
pact. Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez warns it
could set the stage for a U.S. invasion of
his country.
Washington and Bogota dismiss the charge,
saying the pact is aimed at fighting the
cocaine trade and criminal groups within
Colombia. The FARC, branded a terrorist
organization by Washington, is funded by
drug trafficking and extortion.
"It is evident that the installation at
Manta was used for different actions," the
report says. "The areas they covered were
dugs, migration and providing information
and logistical support for military
strategies, in this case aimed at illegal
armed movements in Colombia."
Colombia, Washington's main ally in the
region, has long accused its neighbors
Venezuela and Ecuador of not doing enough to
help it fight the FARC. Colombia protested
on Wednesday after the rebels were lauded at
a forum in Caracas.
At a conference of left-wing groups, a video
message was broadcast from FARC commander
Alfonso Cano. It was not clear whether
Chavez officials attended or supported the
event. |
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