Chavez backs Brazil's plan for regional security alliance

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has given his backing to Brazil's proposal for a regional defence council, amid tensions between his country and neighbour Colombia. The region was brought on the verge of armed conflict early this month when Colombian army raided a camp of the country's largest leftist insurgent group hiding in Ecuadorian jungles across its borders, killing the second in command of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) among 23 rebels.