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Colombia to Charge Venezuela's Chavez for Backing Rebels


04 March 2008

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said his government is planning to file the charges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Mr. Uribe said he ordered his nation's ambassador to the United Nations to explain the alleged links between Venezuela's government and leftist rebels.

Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe (l) speaks to reporters in Bogota, 04 Mar 2008
President Alvaro Uribe (l) speaks to reporters in Bogota, 04 Mar 2008

He said Colombia plans to seek charges against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for sponsoring and financing genocide.

Monday, Colombian officials released documents seized after a controversial raid inside Ecuador, which killed a senior leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and several other militants. The officials said the evidence shows Mr. Chavez gave the leftist rebels $300 million and offered to supply rifles to them.

Venezuela's government has condemned Bogota for launching the cross-border attack and ordered troops to the border with Colombia.

At a meeting of the Organization of American States in Washington,Tuesday, Venezuela's ambassador Jorge Valero Briceño urged member states to condemn the attack.

He said the group can not allow war-mongers in Colombia to extend the armed conflict in its territory to other countries in the region.

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa responded to the raid by cutting off diplomatic ties with Colombia, which he accused of violating Ecuador's national sovereignty. On a visit to Peru, Mr. Correa said the Colombian military strike threatened stability across the region.

Mr. Correa said the region should not tolerate the attack, and said it is not just a problem between Colombia and Ecuador.

The Ecuadorian leader is set to travel to several other Latin American nations this week in an effort to rally support for his government in the row with Colombia.

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