Tension Builds Between Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador

CARACAS, Venezuela, March 3, 2008 — -- Ecuador's President Rafael Correa has deployed 3,200 troops to the southern border with Colombia, following a diplomatic fracas in which Colombian military forces targeted and killed a rebel leader just inside Ecuador's border.

The Marxist rebel group, FARC, which many see as the biggest threat to regional stability, is said to be responsible for the kidnapping of U.S. contractors and Colombian politicians, including Colombia's former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez responded swiftly to the killing. "You had better not get the idea of doing this in our territory because it would be cause for a war," Chavez said Sunday during his weekly televised broadcast to the nation.

Since then, all eyes have been fixed on the Colombian-Venezuelan border for signs of military action between the two countries. Pro-Chavez state television channels have shown no pictures of increased border activity, and Bogota has announced that it would not send troops to the border in an attempt to calm the situation.

That's a very different tactic than the one it used on Saturday when forces entered Ecuadorian territory to carry out air and ground attacks on FARC rebel forces, killing its number two in command, Raul Reyes.

Correa was initially unruffled by reports of the assault, but changed his rhetoric after learning the attack had been premeditated, and he launched into a tirade against the Colombian government.

"I would like to inform the Ecuadorian people that I am preparing to withdraw Ecuador's ambassador from Bogota, who is already in the country," Correa said in an address to the nation. "Additionally, I have ordered the mobilization of troops to the northern border, and I have called an urgent meeting for tomorrow of the national security council."

Colombia's Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo apologized for the actions that took place but stood by his government's decision to cross the border, saying it was retaliating against enemy fire.