Montecristi - Ecuador

Ecuador was bombed by the Colombian Army on March 1, 2008. As a result of the attack, 22 people were killed in what many have called a premeditated massacre of FARC guerrilla movement members, including number 2 leader, Raúl Reyes. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's action was rejected by the Grupo de Río, formed by the Latin American and Caribbean countries, in the Heads of State Summit held in Dominican Republic on March 7.

This is the worst attack on Ecuador's territory since the 44 year old confrontation among the FARC, the Colombian Army, the paramilitary and other armed actors in neighboring Colombia. During the last year, there have been at least 5 incursions, causing victims on the Ecuadorean side. The Colombian government, keen on pushing the Bush directed “War Against Terror”, has continuously violated Ecuador's sovereignty not only through armed attacks, but also by carrying out aerial aspersions that have affected health, life and crops in Ecuador.

The Colombian Army attacked a FARC base set up in Ecuador, without its consent. Reportedly, FARC members were sleeping when the bomb attack from helicopters and airplanes took place. Colombian soldiers who landed in helicopters in the jungle area, shot those who were wounded and took two dead bodies, including Raúl Reyes, as a trophy for President Uribe. Three wounded young women were left behind, along with the rest of the dead bodies. They are currently recovering in a hospital in Quito, under strict protection.

Ecuador's popular President Rafael Correa denounced the violation of the country's sovereingy, demanded an immediate investigation, withdrew his Ambassador from Colombia and ousted the Colombian Ambassador from Ecuador. He began visits to many Latin American countries to inform the Presidents of the situation, obtaining solidarity for the Ecuadorean position that its sovereingty had been violated and nothing, absolutely nothing, justified such action. In order to manipulate and try to avoid condemnation, President Uribe justified the bombing as its right to fight against terrorism wherever it comes from, similar to the US and Israel claim by which they attack any country. To manipulate and justify this, Uribe claimed that in the computers found after the attack, there was documentation that linked Ecuador's Internal and External Security Minister Gustavo Larrea to the FARC movement. Explanations in Ecuador informed that a meeting had been held in order to seek the release of hostages held by the FARC, including Ingrid Betancourt, the Colombian-French former Presidential Candidate. Although Ecuador's governement has clearly expressed that there are no ties with the FARC, the political opposition will surely use such questionnable material to try to attack President Correa.

Latin America plays key role, without U. S. intervention

In a long and tense Presidents Summit on March 7, followed by Ecuadoreans and Colombians on live television, the Grupo de Río rejected Colombia's attack as a violation to Ecuador's sovereignty, while President Uribe presented his formal apology to President Correa and promised similar actions would not be repeated. Previously the Organization of American States, OAS, had issued a statement only “acknowledging” the invasion, but not rejecting or condemning it. The Grupo de Rio, as opposed to the OAS, is formed only by Latin American and Caribbean Heads of States, while the OAS incudes the US, which brings in another dimension, due to the imposition of its own interests.

Many questions have been raised around the Colombian military incursion and the killing of Raúl Reyes, the main negotiator for the release of hostages, seven of which were released earlier this year. France's Foreign Affairs Minister reported that the killing of Reyes was “bad news”, because he was the negotiator. Perhaps Uribe didn't want the hostage releases to continue, because there would be less arguments for war. Uribe came to power promising to defeat the FARC movement, mainly through killing its members. For many Latinamericans, the Colombian conflict will only be settled through a political negotiated solution, not through war.

Another question refers to the use of the Manta Base facilities to carry out the attack. The Ecuador No Bases Coalition expressed its concern that AWACS from the Manta Base, could have been used to capture the satellite signal from Reyes' mobile phone, thus locating the site. The Coalition has permanently denounced that although the agreement with the US for the use of the Manta Base was supposedly to fight drug traffick, it has been used as support for the Colombian Army by providing information in real time on the guerrilla's actions.

The Colombian government, with complicity from the media, has placed the conflict in Colombia as if there were only two actors: the Colombian Army and the FARC. However, the paramilitary and other armed actors have caused thousands of horrible deaths, with almost two million internally displaced people. The Colombian Army has been accused of repeated violations of human rights. The conflict itself has other interests, including the control of natural resources in the region. Many people leave their lands and homes after the massacres; such properties are left behind for those who live from the conflict. Ecuador itself has approximately 500,000 Colombians who have fled their country to save their lives.

It is clear that the US interest in Latin America is mainly oil, and the US seems to be losing its battle in the region. Its closes ally is Colombian President Uribe, and therefore has interest to support the actions carried out through the US funded Colombia Plan. Progressive governments in the region make it more difficult to carry out the regionalization of the war, which has been demanded by Uribe. In fact, in the Grupo de Rio statement, only Colombia considers the FARC as terrorists, since the other countries recognize them as “irregular groups”.

This is why Ecuador maintains its neutrality in relation to the Colombian conflict and considers it an internal conflict which must be solved within Colombia, by attacking its root causes. President Uribe cannot demand that other countries become involved in such war. In most of Latin America, there is support for the establishment of a committee or group of countries to help develop solutions, but not with arms.

A few days before the attack, the Ecuador Constitutional Assembly debated on articles on sovereingy proposed for the new Constitution, including that “Ecuador is territory of peace, and therefore it cannot host military bases or installations used for war,” as presented by the No Bases Coalition to the Assembly. Perhaps such a clear declaration was also another reason to try to destabilize the region throught this planned attack. President of the Assembly Alberto Acosta used this article to send a message to Latin America: we should work to make Latin America and the Caribbean a territory of peace; let's regionalize peace, not war.

Another possible reason to attack Ecuador last week was to try to avoid the forming of a strong Latin American and Caribbean regional organization. The Union of Nations of the South was due to meet in Cartagena, Colombia later this month. In any case, the regional unity is now stronger. Latin America showed that it was not willing to accept an Israel or US response to “terrorism”, which Colombia was unilaterally trying to implement. It is also important to note that the Grupo de Río was able to set the bases for a dialogue to solve the conflict which was considered not only between Colombia and Ecuador, but rather as a regional problem. Even Mexican President Cadena -close friend of the US- said that the Grupo de Río should be the foundation for the Latin American Association of Nations. This is very interesting, considering that this means a region without the US, and therefore could constitute the beginning of the end of the OAS, where decisions are marked by US interests and pressure.

President Correa's popularity increased after his strong stance, considered a dignifying position by Ecuadoreans. President Uribe was alone with his arguments, although he also has substantial support from his population. President Chavez intervened at the beginning calling for strong actions against Colombia and withdrew his Ambassador. Nicaragua broke relations with Colombia. But, during the Grupo de Rio Summit, President Chavez played a key role, calling for peace in the region, since war is not the answer.

Social movements in Ecuador, supporting President Correa's firm position through demonstrations and statements, consider that with Uribe's public apology, this is not over. The U.S. will not easily give up its power in the region, nor its base structure. It is a moment for organizations to define new strategies to face imperial power and to contribute to build a world of justice, equity and peace.

- Helga Serrano, Constitutional Assembly Alternate Representative, No Bases Coalition