OAS evaluates with Ecuador situation in border with Colombia

[Judi Lynn]

OAS evaluates with Ecuador situation in border with Colombia
2009-03-20 12:16:55

QUITO, March 19 (Xinhua) -- A mission of the Organization of American States (OAS) began on Thursday to evaluate with Ecuadorian authorities the insecurity situation in the border with Colombia, Ecuadorian presidency informed.

The commissioners met with delegates from the Ecuadorian Ministries of Defense, Internal and External Security, Interior, and Foreign Affairs, as well as from the National Council of Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances Control.

According to a press communique from the presidency, it is expected that on Sunday the commission presents a preliminary report to Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Fander Falconi with the first conclusions of their observances in the border area.

Since Monday, the OAS mission has toured localities in the provinces of Carchi, Esmeraldas and Sucumbios where it verified "the citizen's insecurity, the people displacement and the affectations to the way of living in the provinces, provoked by the violence that affects the southern border of Colombia" as in the communique.

More:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/20/content_11041650.htm

[Peace Patriot]

1. I'm very glad to see this. The Ecuador/Colombia border situation is a menace to

Ecuador's democracy and its leftist government, as well as a murderous menace to the people who live along the border. According to reports I've read, approx. 90% of the murders connected to the civil war have been committed by the fascist Colombian military and closely tied rightwing paramilitary death squads. Tens of thousands of Colombians have fled Colombia into Venezuela and Ecuador, mostly fleeing the Colombian military and its death squads; also fleeing toxic pesticide spraying in the failed, corrupt, murderous U.S. "war on drugs." Venezuela and Ecuador then have to care all these refugees. And, last year, the U.S./ Colombia dropped ten U.S. "smart bombs" on Ecuadoran territory, just over the border, and raided over the border, to slaughter 25 people in their sleep at a temporary FARC hostage release camp, including one Ecuadoran and several Mexican students, who were apparently there for the humanitarian mission of releasing hostage Ingrid Betancourt and others.

Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, broke off diplomatic relations with Colombia over this violation of Ecuador's territory. (He was not apprised of the nature of the mission and did not approve it.) Last week, Colombia's fascist Defense Minister Santos indicated that the agreements reached by the Rio Group and the OAS, after the U.S./Colombian raid on Ecuador, were apparently rendered null and void, by him, because he stated that he would pursue the FARC over Venezuela's border without permission. Chavez reprimanded him publicly and asked why he was stating his intention to violate Colombian national policy and agreements. He is just a Defense Minister. We all know, however, that Santos wants to become president and/or military dictator of Colombia. He is a Rumsfeld type.

So Rafael Correa needs all the help he can get in dealing with the Colombian menace. And I am very glad that he has involved the OAS in evaluating the situation and making recommendations, which will also help in rallying other governments in support of Ecuador, should Colombia continue its aggression and trouble-making. Lula da Silva, president of Brazil, has meanwhile proposed a common defense in the context of South America's new common market, UNASUR, but that defense is not yet up and running, and one of the obstacles is Colombia, which was asked to be a member of UNASUR, and has tentatively agreed to cooperation in the formation of a common defense, but has been obstructing the progress of it. The other countries--all but one with leftist or center-left governments--want to include Colombia, to influence it for the better, but that obviously includes the same problem they face in the OAS--U.S. obstruction of the interests of the people of Latin America. Colombia = Washington's tool and stalking horse. (This may change with the Obama administration, but it was the case with the Bushwhacks, who larded Colombia's fascists with $6 BILLION in military aid, precisely to cause trouble.)

The OAS is now leftist-dominated, so it has more clout to help in a situation like Ecuador/Colombia, and, with the Bushwhacks gone, the OAS may be more helpful in general as to pursuing good goals and dealing with emergencies. Notably, last year, Ecuador and Venezuela took Colombia's aggression to the Rio Group (all Latin American--no U.S.) where the dispute was settled short of war. The OAS was very hampered by the Bushwhacks (whom I believe had planned a war), but ultimately approved a resolution against Colombia, with only the U.S. (Bushwhacks) dissenting. Even Colombia agreed to both the OAS and the Rio Group's resolutions, to get itself out of the hot water that it was in with the rest of Latin America.