Ecuador continues drive against isolated Colombia
Wednesday, 05 Mar 2008 09:20
Ecuador's president says a Colombian apology is not sufficient
South American international politics continued to threaten war on Wednesday as Ecuador pressed on with its diplomatic battle against Colombia.
Bogota has become increasingly isolated since a cross-border raid on Farc, a group of left-wing military insurgents, left Paul Reyes dead on Saturday.
Ecuador has accused Colombia of violating its sovereignty and, with vocal support from Venezuela's outspoken president Hugo Chavez, has steadily escalated a regional crisis since then.
All three countries have deployed troops on their borders, with only limited access for commercial traffic according to reports.
Although the UN, US and regional leaders like Brazil have called for restraint Colombia's accusation that Ecuador was collaborating with Farc rebels has angered Quito still further.
It has rejected an apology from Colombia as insufficient and is now pushing for wider punishment of the US-supported government by South American nations.
"We are a small country, but we will defend our sovereignty to the last," Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, was quoted as saying by the Bloomberg news agency.
"Sovereignty isn't negotiable."
Mr Correa is currently on a whistlestop tour of the region, mustering support for his country's hardline stance.
His hopes of winning a resolution against Colombia from the Organisation of American States will be dampened by pushes for diplomacy from the organisation's secretary general, Jose Miguel Insulza.
Mr Insulza said yesterday OAS remained committed to "the quest for a common position, prioritised on dialogue as the sole mechanism of negotiation".