The OAS' final resolution gave Correa almost everything he had asked for, without yet specifically condemning Colombia in any way.
- From Brazil, he had called for "a rapid pronouncement of the inviolability of territory, the creation of an investigative commission and an emergency assembly of foreign ministers."
It goes on to create a commission of four or less countries to investigate exactly what happened in Ecuador, and calls a meeting of the Chancellors of the region on March 17.
The Venezuelan representative said that the resolution "has re-vindicated the principle of sovereignty."
In his whirlwind trip of the continent, Correa said in Brazil that "if the bombing had happened in Brazil…they would probably already be at war." He also attacked the logic of Colombia's defense.
"If the FARC is a regional danger, then we should all attack the FARC and if we think there are guerrillas … in a hotel in Bogotá, then we should attack it," he said.
Colombia for its part has not backed down from the laptop offensive, revealing more details and continuing accusations. Vice-president Francisco Santos accused the FARC and the Chávez of carrying out a "ideological, military, political" "continental project." A military officer said an actual call from Chávez to Reyes led to Colombian knowledge of his whereabouts. Supposedly the call took place after the successful release of hostages last week, when Chávez called to say everything had gone well.
They also claimed they knew where FARC leader "Sureshot" Marulanda was—Venezuela.
Upon more complete divulgence of the contents of the laptop which survived double bombardment, the Colombian government disclosed documents, which, through second-hand reports, claim that Chávez wanted to discredit Uribe's strategy. That was no secret. As for the $300 million, the case is more ambiguous. The documents reveal Secretariat talk of what do with money in a dossier called "300."
There seems, as of yet, little more evidence that that actually means 300 million dollars given to them, or by whom. Therefore it might be hard to make a case against Chávez with the current amount of documentation. Moreover, the documents show evidence of talks with the FARC on the part of Ecuador, France, and even The United States.
- This could be explained by the fact that Reyes was essentially the entity's foreign minister and negotiated things like hostage turnovers.
Venezuelan military authorities responded to opposition criticisms of war-mongering by saying the troops were only meant to reinforce national sovereignty.
Few of these governments really represent the interests of the masses of América Latina, even if some of them pretend once in a while, for select audiences, that they are 'socialist'. And none of them has decisively broken with the capitalist system of privilege -- which barely differentiates itself from some hi-tech form of feudalism these days.
ReplyDeleteIn the struggle of the working-classes to overcome capitalist privation, the maintenance of the status quo is worse than 'not enough'. And so these OAS members should be roundly condemned for not roundly condemning this colombian, U.S.-backed aggression against progressive forces.