TENSION BETWEEN ECUADOR, VENEZUELA, AND COLOMBIA.

This seems almost to have escaped notice in the United States, except in the fringe that believes Hugo Chavez is the second coming of Josef Stalin, but there is some significant tension right now between Ecuador, Venezuela, and Colombia. Colombia, it seems, crossed the border into Ecuador while hunting members of FARC, the drug-fueled leftist Colombian insurgency. Ecuador has taken this badly, and Venezuela has responded by shifting troops to its own border with Colombia, and stepping up the rhetoric. Mr. Trend has a good run down:

As the story develops, it appears that Colombia actually invaded Ecuadoran airspace, and the Colombian military crossed into Ecuador without permission to kill [Raul] Reyes, who was in Ecuador's national territory. In response, President Rafael Correa of Ecuador has sent troops to the Colombia-Ecuador border, withdrawn his ambassador from Colombia, and expelled Colombia's ambassador from Ecuador. Hugo Chávez has also shut down Venezuela's embassy in Colombia, and sent troops to the Colombia-Venezuela border, threatening war if Colombia tries to invade Venezuela, even to attack members of the FARC or the ELN. And while Colombia has apologized to Ecuador, Ecuador says the apology is insufficient, while Colombia claims it has found evidence in the camp of the 17 FARC members that Ecuador was in contact with FARC. Suffice to say, things are, at the moment, rather tense.

--Robert Farley