Colombian President Alvaro Uribe upped the rhetorical ante against Venezuela March 4, accusing Hugo Chávez of supporting "genocide" and threatening to bring charges against him at The Hague. "Colombia proposes to denounce Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela, in the International Criminal Court for sponsoring and financing genocide," Uribe said. "We are not warmongers, but we are not weak. We cannot allow terrorists who seek refuge in other countries to spill the blood of our countrymen." (Reuters, March 4)

As Venezuela and Ecuador order troops to their borders with Colombia, the Colombian National Police chief Gen. Oscar Naranjo announced that documents recovered from the computer of slain guerilla leader Raul Reyes reveal financial ties between Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and the FARC—including a Feb. 14 message that mentions US$300 million in Venezuelan support for the rebel organization.

Raul Reyes (AKA Luis Edgar Devia), second-in-command of Colombia's FARC guerillas, was killed March 1 in a raid across the border in the Ecuadoran lowland rainforest department of Sucumbios. President Alvaro Uribe called it "the biggest blow so far" against the rebel organization, and said he informed Ecuador's President Rafael Correa by telephone after the pre-dawn raid. Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said Reyes was killed in an air-strike on a FARC camp 1.8 kilometers in Ecuadoran territory, followed by a ground incursion. Announced Uribe: "The Colombian Air Force proceeded to attack the camp from the Colombian side... Once the camp was bombarded, Colombian forces were ordered in to secure the area and neutralize the enemy." Sixteen other guerillas were killed in the attack near the settlement of Santa Rosa. Colombian intelligence apparently determined the location of the camp by tracking the guerillas' satellite phone signals. (Mercopress, Montevideo, El Comercio, Quito, March 2)

Following approval by both houses of Congress, President Bush Feb. 29 signed a 10-month extension of the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), designed to discourage Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia from producing illegal drugs by allowing the four countries to export most of their goods to the US duty-free. White House spokesman Dana Perino said the ATPA extension will provide time to implement the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and for Congress to approve the US-Colombia FTA. Perino also warned that Bolivia and Ecuador could lose their trade benefits because of actions those governments have taken, "including with respect to the treatment of US investors." (Living in Peru; Reuters, Feb. 29)

On Feb. 28, Bolivia's National Congress narrowly approved holding a national referendum on a new constitution drawn up by supporters of President Evo Morales. The vote, setting the referendum for May 4, was boycotted by the opposition, which had been attempting to change the draft constitution approved in December. The draft constitution would give the president more power over natural resources, collapse Bolivia's legislature into one body, and allow the president to seek election for two consecutive five-year terms. (NYT, Feb. 29; Jurist, Feb. 28)

Four hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were released Feb. 27, in a deal brokered by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. The four ex-members of Colombia's congress are among some 40 high-profile hostages held for years by the guerrilla organization. They were handed over to a delegation of Venezuelan and Colombian politicians and Red Cross personnel sent by Chávez at an undisclosed location in the Colombian jungle. They then flew to the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, to be welcomed by relatives. (Newsday, Feb. 28)

Campesinos and farmers started an open-ended strike in eight Peruvian departments on Feb. 18, holding marches and blocking highways to demand government measures to ease the impact of a free trade agreement (FTA, or TLC in Spanish) with the US. The action was called by the National Convention of Agriculture (Conveagro), the National Council of Irrigation Users (JNUDR) and the National Agrarian Confederation (CNA). According to JNUDR president Enrique Malaga, the FTA, which is to lift tariffs on heavily subsidized US farm products, will harm more than 1.75 million Peruvian farms.

Argentine president Cristina Fernandez hosted a meeting in Buenos Aires on Feb. 23 with Bolivian president Evo Morales and Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva about a possible energy crisis in the countries and to consolidate plans for regional integration. Bolivia has offered to redirect some of its natural gas to Argentina from Brazil, where the winters are milder. Earlier in the week Buenos Aires hosted a meeting of Latin American and Arab foreign ministers; trade between the two regions has been on the rise. (La Jornada, Mexico, Feb. 24)