CUCUTA, Colombia -- Venezuela and Ecuador took their growing conflict with Colombia to the diplomatic front, seeking international condemnation of Colombia's deadly assault on a rebel base in Ecuador.
|
A Venezuelan soldier prepares an armored personnel carrier as it drives through the town of Paraguaipoa towards the border with Colombia, in the western state of Zulia, March 4, 2008. [Agencies]
|
The two countries tightened their borders and were deploying thousands of troops, while Colombia on Tuesday pointed to documents found in a slain rebel leader's laptop that it claimed was proof of stunning links between the leftist guerrillas and Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.
Ecuador rejected a Colombian apology for the cross-border strike as insufficient, and sought to rally opposition during an emergency meeting of the Organization of American States.
The meeting was convened in Washington to help defuse one of South America's most volatile crises in years. Venezuela's justice minister declared that war "has already begun."
At Venezuela's border with Colombia, National Guard troops turned back Colombian cargo trucks under orders from Caracas.
