Colombia Support Network

COLOMBIA SUPPORT NETWORK STATEMENT ON INVASION OF ECUADOR
                                                       March 11, 2008

             The Colombia Support Network (CSN) registers its total  
disagreement with the Bush Administration’s support of the Uribe  
Administration’s violation of Ecuadorian territory to kill members of  
the FARC guerrillas located at a provisional camp nearly one mile  
inside the Ecuadorian border.  It is clear that Colombian  
forces were not “in hot pursuit” of FARC guerrillas in response to a  
FARC attack, as President Uribe falsely told President Rafael Correa  
of Ecuador  after the fact, of the  Colombian attack inside Ecuador.

            It is clear that the Colombian government violated  
international law with its cross-border attack, as virtually all the  
other governments in South America have recognized. The other  
countries in the region had expressed their solidarity with the  
Ecuadorian government.

    We are concerned that the Bush Administration by approving President  
Uribe’s breach of international law may be attempting  to promote  
controversy between Colombia and its neighbors, to impede  
economic and political integration of the South American countries and
to curtail socialist experiments in the region such as those in  
Venezuela. Ecuador has refused to extend the term for the  
US military base in Manta.

    We reject the doctrine of pre- emptive strikes across national  
borders. The U.S. government should consider how it would  
feel if its doctrines applied to acts of other countries were applied to
 this  country.

    We welcome the good faith attempt to resolve issues peacefully which  
was evidenced at the Latin American leaders meeting in Santo Domingo  
last week.

    We call upon the U.S. Congress and the  Presidential candidates to  
renounce  Bush interventionist doctrines,  which are leading our  
country toward being considered an international pariah. We call  
upon them to express their disapproval of Colombia’s violation of  
Ecuadorian sovereignty.

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