Ecuador seeks OAS role in raid row

[bemildred]

Source: al Jazeera

Ecuador has said it will take the issue of the killing of one of its citizens during Colombia's March 1 attack on a rebel camp inside its territories before the Organisation of American States (OAS).

The foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday that it had decided to seek the help of the Washington-based OAS over the killing.

Alfredo Alvear, Ecuador's attorney-general, announced on Monday that fingerprint tests confirmed that a body, brought from the jungle camp to Bogota along with Raul Reyes, a senior Farc commander killed, belonged to Franklin Aisalla, a locksmith.

"Ecuador will call on ... OAS Secretary (General José Miguel Insulza) for a definite solution to the case," the ministry statement said.

Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0BD13769-BA97-4F16-BDDB-851C290097D0.htm

[Peace Patriot]

1. Last year, Nicaragua proposed that Latin America form an OAS without the U.S.

--at the meeting of all Latin American states, Spain and Portugal. The public spat between King Juan Carlos of Spain and President Chavez of Venezuela, regarding the previous government of Spain and its complicity in the U.S.-backed rightwing coup attempt against Chavez, eclipsed news of the Nicaragua proposal, but there was a four hour, closed door meeting about it, and it is in line with the strong trend toward Latin American self-determination--a trend that is very advanced in South America, led by the Bolivarian countries (Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina and Nicaragua), and also has widespread sympathy in other leftist countries (Brazil, Uruguay, Chile), and even, in some respects, in countries with center/right and rightwing governments. Paraguay, for instance--with a center-right government--joined the Bank of the South (a Chavez inspired project to keep loans local and drive the U.S.-dominated World Bank/IMF loan sharks out of the region--which it is successfully doing), because it is good for South America and for Paraguay. And even a rightwing corporatist like President Calderon of Mexico publicly lectured Bush, when he toured Latin America, on the sovereignty of Latin American countries, using Venezuela as an example! I was amazed by that--and I think it had to do with Bushite complicity in a plot hatched in Colombia, to assassinate President Chavez. All the Latin American countries seemed to know about it--but it was, of course, black-holed in the corporate "news" here.

The corporate "news" monopolies are doing us a greater disservice than we know. Their relentless lying and disinformation, on behalf of global corporate predators, leaves us wide open to shocks like 9/11, and also to catastrophes like the disappearance of U.S. jobs and manufacturing--and their showing up in China and India--the $10 trillion Republicrat deficit and the collapse of our economy. And when we find ourselves isolated in our own hemisphere, and our relations with our Latin neighbors in complete disarray--with South America in particular booming toward socialism, democracy and prosperity, and leaving the U.S. in the dust--we won't know what hit us.

The U.S./Bush-Colombia bombing/incursion into Ecuador is part of a Bushite (and, more than likely, Rumsfeld) plan to destroy the rise of democracy, independence and prosperity in South America, with destabilization, violence and war. It is much more than a simple border incident, and it had nothing to do with FARC (leftist guerrilla fighters in Colombia), just as the Iraq War has nothing to do with Al Qaeda. It is all about Bushite plots to regain global corporate predator control of the oil in Venezuela and Ecuador, and to destroy the self-determined use of the oil, and other resources, by the people who live there. And this is why Ecuador's challenge in the OAS is so important. It is a means of exposing Bush-U.S. complicity with its client state, Colombia, on the use of violence to achieve Bush-U.S. goals in South America. And how the OAS responds will be a measure of the unity of Latin American countries as to their independence from the U.S.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Just read a reference to a S. American defense organization in this article:

Staying Out of US-Inspired FTAA Is a Good Thing, Says Brazil
Written by Newsroom
Wednesday, 26 March 2008

~snip~
Brazilian companies have obtained significant public works contracts in Venezuela and exporters are shipping considerable volumes of food and other staples, which are helping the President Chavez administration overcome an acute shortage in groceries and supermarkets stalls.

When asked if Venezuela's incorporation to Mercosur could help neutralize the influence of President Chavez in the region, Amorim said Brazil "could have a positive influence but under no circumstances do we want to neutralize anybody".

Lula main advisor, Marco Aurélio Garcia, who helped prepare the agenda for the summit with Chavez said the two leaders will be talking about industrial and agriculture cooperation but also other common issues such as energy, education and the Amazon region.

"Brazil wants to cooperate to help Venezuela rapidly become self sufficient in food production", said Marco Aurélio who added that "the Venezuelan people now have higher incomes and greater access to markets".

Marco Aurélio hailed the international court ruling that favored Venezuela's government owned oil corporation PDVSA following a demand from Exxon Mobil.

"It's a victory for all energy producers in Latinamerica. The world has set its eyes on our region because we're an important source of gas, petroleum and other fuels", said Marco Aurélio.

"The world will need a lot of energy and we have quite a bit so defense of our sovereignty is going to become an important task in the coming years", anticipated Lula's main political advisor.

http://www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/9204/

On edit, adding one more article:

Brazil, Venezuela agree food and defense, not oil
Thu 27 Mar 2008, 0:43 GMT

~snip~
Chavez backed Brazil's proposal on Wednesday to create a regional defense council to help avoid conflicts and reduce reliance on U.S. weapons.

"That was (Simon) Bolivar's dream ... to form an alliance, not only economic and political but also military," Chavez said in reference to the South American independence hero.

"We are again creating a great South America," Chavez told reporters upon his arrival in Recife on Wednesday.

http://africa.reuters.com/commodities/news/usnN26333354.html