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terrorists. Both ammunition and economic assistance is purported to have been funneled to the group via Venezuela. There are even claims that Raul Reyes, a commanding officer of the FARC who was killed in an attack by the Colombian military this past March, had direct access to Chavez through his recovered laptop. Those allegations, however, were never validated. Regardless, the reason for the conflict between Colombia and its neighbor to the east is hereby substantiated.

Venezuela and the FARC are not the only thorns under Uribe's fingernails at present. Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa recently defended his nation's sovereignty when the Colombian Armed Forces were instructed on March 1, to neglect the two countries' shared border in the south of Colombia. The military crossed only a few miles into Ecuadorian airspace to attack guerrilla members with an airstrike that killed 17 members, including the aforementioned Reyes. While the Colombian Foreign Ministry claims that they acted within the principle of legitimate defense (2), President Correa withdrew his Ambassador to Colombia and threatened that further violations could result in grave consequences.

Correa is one of Chavez's leftist allies in the region, and Chavez supported him by stating that if Colombia were to do the same thing on the Venezuelan border, that it would be a cause for war. It seems that Colombia is faced not only with its ongoing internal conflict, but with mounting tensions from the exterior as well. One begins to wonder if Colombia will ever overcome its conflictive nature.

As Latin America's black sheep that refuses to stand in defiance to Washington with the rest of the region, Colombia is becoming even more isolated as its internal conflict spills over its borders. Issues with the conflict pouring into neighboring Panama are nothing new either.

While drugs and oil undoubtedly produce internal problems for Colombia, its acquiescence to Washington along with its uncontrollable guerrilla conflict are now producing external issues. Although tensions between the three nations have eased in the past several weeks, one never knows what tomorrow may bring.

Bibliography
1. McCoy, Jennifer L. 1999. Chavez and the End of "Partyarchy" in Venezuela. Jounal of Democracy, 10.3, 64-77.
2. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/ 0303/p04s02-woam.html

Learn more about this author, David A.G. Fischer.
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