by Rod Hughes

The Organization of American States and the Costa Rican Foreign Ministry, in their traditional peace-keeping roles, scrambled this week to defuse the diplomatic crisis between Colombia and its neighbors Ecuador and Venezuela. The tensions spilled over Saturday when Colombian troops crossed the Ecuadoran border Saturday and killed 20 FARC guerillas including FARC’s number two commander, Raul Reyes.

Update 6/3/08: The leftist government of Nicaragua severed relations with Colombia in a show of support for Chavez. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega sees in Chasvez a sort of political soulmate.

The OAS has called a special emergency session as diplomatic protests fly. Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe accused his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chavez, of financing terrorism. Venezuela responded by closing the mutual border with Colombia and both Ecuardor and Venezuela are sending thousands of troops to the border. The Colombian Foreign Minister responded by accusing Venezuela of having ties with narcotics traffickers and rebels “responsible for horrendous war crimes.”

Meanwhile, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa made a whirlwind visit to Peru, Brazil, Panama and Venezuela to whip up support against Colombia. The OAS was caught by surprise at the speed the crisis developed. Costa Rica, following its inclination as a calming influence, began working behind the scenes.

The raid that killed Reyes also resulted in Colombian allegations that e-mails from laptops captured in the incursion show that Venezuelan president Chavez proposed to sell fuel to the FARC rebels.