Apparently, Hugo Chavez prefers Colombia, responding to a successful Colombian strike into Ecuador to hit a terrorist leader:
Chavez called the killing of rebel leader and spokesman Raul Reyes and 16 other guerrillas on Saturday an attack by a "terrorist state," saying it shows Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is a "criminal."
"Mr. Defense Minister, move 10 battalions to the border with Colombia for me, immediately — tank battalions. Deploy the air force," Chavez said during his weekly TV and radio program. "We don't want war, but we aren't going to permit the U.S. empire, which is the master (of Colombia) ... to come divide us."
Correa said Colombia deliberately carried out the strike beyond its borders, flying deep into Ecuador to bomb the rebel camp from the south. The Ecuadorean leader said the rebels were "bombed and massacred as they slept, using precision technology."
The Colombian military said the camp was located just over a mile from the border.
Colombian officials have long complained that rebels are allowed to take refuge across its borders in both Ecuador and Venezuela.
The guy is nuts. He would start a war to solidify his position in Venezuela despite setbacks from his idiotic mismanagement of the country. And despite the fact that there would be no real point to a war between the two and no real objective to fight over.
But it may all depend on what makes sense to Chavez. Aren't I cheery?
UPDATE: This writer--not Chavez himself who may be all that matters, of course--agrees that war makes little sense:
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa called Colombia's "a foul and lying government that doesn't want peace." And even the ailing Fidel Castro weighed in, writing that "The trumpets of war are being heard in our continent's south as a result of the genocidal plans of the Yankee empire."
But there is little appetite for armed conflict in the region despite Chavez's recent purchases of $3 billion in Russian arms, including 53 military helicopters, 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles and 24 SU-30 Sukhoi fighter jets.
The economic costs, to begin with, are far too high.
Too many people depend on cross-border trade worth $5 billion a year, most of it Colombian exports sorely needed by Venezuelans already suffering milk and meat shortages. Ecuador depends on some $1.8 billion in trade with Colombia.
And militarily, Colombia has become a formidable foe, thanks in large part to $5 billion in aid from Washington since 2000. U.S. military advisers are sprinkled throughout Colombia's military, and Washington could quickly ramp up support if war broke out.
Chavez's critics say his saber-rattling is intended to deflect attention from mounting domestic woes.
"You can't keep playing with the future of this country," said Venezuelan opposition leader Manuel Rosales, whom Chavez defeated handily in the last presidential election. He accused Chavez of trying to "stir up nationalist sentiment to hide the truth of this country, which is falling to pieces."
The bright side should Hugo go to war is that this tinpot thug who has mismanaged his economy has also crippled his armed forces with his lame ideas of defense reform. If Chavez launches a war to save his regime, losing that war might cost him his regime. Ask the Argentinian junta how well that Malvinas adventure went for them.
But at least with this crisis we can fully define the Axis of El Vil as Ecuador, Venezuela, and Cuba. We'll see if Nicaragua jumps in, too.
UPDATE: Slow but still socialist, Danny Boy takes the plunge and breaks relations with Colombia:
"We are breaking off relations because of the political terrorism being carried out by the governnent of Alvaro Uribe, not because of the Colombian people," Ortega said.
The Axis of El Vil adds a fourth.
