Hostage Ingrid Betancourt

Ingrid Betancourt

Mike Power, FirstPost.com

T he raid into Ecuador by Colombian troops to execute Raul Reyes, second-in-command of the Marxist guerilla army FARC, has sparked a diplomatic crisis that is making waves in and beyond South America.

The bold gesture by the Colombian president, Alvaro Uribe, friend of Washington, has infuriated his Leftist neighbours Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Rafael Correa of Ecuador, who have both sent troops to their borders with Colombia.

It has also made a pawn out of the French-Colombian politician, Ingrid Betancourt, who has been held hostage in the jungle by FARC for six years. Far from helping to free the 46–year-old woman, Uribe's raid looks to have spoiled any diplomatic chances of negotiating her release in the near future.

On top of this, there are the extraordinary claims from Colombia in the past 48 hours that they have found evidence on Paul Reyes's laptop that implicates Chavez as a sponsor of terrorism.

Oscar Naranjo, Colombia's chief of police, said documents found on the hard drive of Raul Reyes's computer showed that Chavez has paid $300m to FARC, and that the guerrillas were trying to buy 50kg of uranium to make a dirty bomb.

Naranjo claimed that another document - a letter from FARC leader Manuel Marulanda - offered Chavez support in the event of any US-led attack on Venezuela. The letter also mentioned that Chavez had offered FARC a consignment of weapons.

There is no denying that Chavez has some influence with FARC. It was his negotiations that prompted the release in January of six hostages, a feat President Uribe has been unable to achieve in two terms in office. But Chavez's deputy, Vice President Ramon Carrizalez, derided the Colombian police chief's claims about money and arms. "They can invent anything in order to try to remove themselves from this violation of Ecuadorian territory," he said.

In response, Colombia yesterday invited the UN and regional overseer, the Organisation of American States, to verify the files. Neither organisation has responded publicly so far.

Anecdotal evidence exists that suggests Venezuela has provided weapons, shelter and financial support to Colombia's rebel army; defectors have spoken of receiving co-operation from some members of the Venezuelan military. If the computer documents prove the rebels' connection with Chavez, it will give ammunition to those who have questioned his integrity and see him as little more than an opportunist thug, a Castro with fewer ideals and more money.

To thicken the plot, President Correa said on Monday that his ministers had indeed met with FARC commanders - but only to broker a release of high-profile hostages, including Ingrid Betancourt, who was snatched in 2002 when she was campaigning for the presidency of Colombia. Correa said Uribe was aware of Ecuador's involvement in the efforts to free Betancourt, who is known to be in poor health, and that by sanctioning the raid into Ecuador to kill Reyes, Uribe had proved himself "a traitor".

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the death of Reyes was "bad news" because he had been France's contact in its efforts to free Betancourt, who is a French citizen. Not to be outdone, Hugo Chavez's government also said he had been close on several occasions to a deal to free Betancourt.

Of course, Betancourt's liberation would have been a major coup for either of Colombia's leftist neighbours. Some observers believe Uribe could not afford to let either Chavez or Correa succeed, whatever the consequences.

Others argue that the raid may have been worth any price to Uribe. He can now pull back from this surgical strike at the heart of the FARC, and reap the rewards of his boldest move yet as president. Opinion polls show 85 per cent of Colombians supported the raid.