CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez portrayed himself as a man of peace Wednesday, even as he moved tanks and soldiers to the Colombian border in a growing crisis set off by Colombia’s weekend attack on leftist rebels hiding in Ecuadoran territory.
Most of the 9,000 soldiers mobilized by Chavez have reached the border area and are “ready to defend the sacred sovereignty of the homeland” if necessary against Colombia’s U.S.-supported military, the defense minister said. Ecuador said it sent 3,200 soldiers to its border with Colombia on Monday.
Chavez blamed the crisis on the U.S. “empire and its lackeys” — Colombia’s conservative government — saying they pose a constant threat of war in the region.
“We are the path to peace,” the leftist leader said in a televised speech. Colombia’s raid, he said, was a “war crime.”
Chavez and his ally, Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa, have been seeking international condemnation of Colombia for the commando raid on Ecuadoran soil that killed a key Colombian rebel leader and 22 other guerrillas Saturday.
They scored a victory of sorts Wednesday in Washington, where the Organization of American States approved a watered-down resolution declaring the attack a violation of Ecuador’s sovereignty.
The attack killed Raul Reyes, the public face of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Colombian commandos recovered Reyes’ laptop, full of documents that indicate FARC had political ties to both Chavez and Correa.
Chavez laughed as he dismissed Colombian accusations that the laptop’s documents show he gave $300 million to the FARC and conspired with the rebels to embarrass Colombia’s government.
Other documents released by Colombia suggest Reyes was secretly negotiating with representatives of France and other European nations to win freedom for hostages including French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and three American defense contractors.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy appealed directly to the rebels in an interview broadcast Wednesday night. He said the FARC could persuade countries to no longer consider it a terror group if it frees her.
