Mutual distrust. Or, if looks could kill.
Semana's cover story this week is reporting that:
"In the space of only four days, Juan Manuel Santo was attacked, insulted, rectified, ratified and eulogized."
It had been widely expected in Bogota that Santos would resign, or be fired, after his gaffe about DAS-gate in Washington and for his remarks about Hot Pursuit, which Uribe had also uttered. (The bushies called it the doctrine of "pre-emptive strikes," which they used to attack Iraq.
But Santos was kept in office by Uribe, in what Semana calls a "marriage of convenience." Semana reported that to have fired Santos would have been akin to handing over Santos' head on a silver platter to Chavez and Correa.
Santos yesterday (Sunday) flew to Santiago de Chile for a Latam Defense Council conference. He is also scheduled to go to Brasilia.
The U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Adm. Mullen, was in South America last week. He made stops in Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Mexico. He did not go to Venezuela, Ecuador or Bolivia. Coincidence?
Here is a snapshot of what caused this latest flap: While I would not go as far as describe it as the winds of war, it certainly was a gust.
Santos said to go after FARC and ELN guerrillas outside of Colombian territory was "an act of legitimate defense," which sparked the latest crisis.
Ecuadoran Defense Minister Javier Ponce called a news conference to express displeasure with the Colombian government after Santos' remarks.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro, joined Ecuador in condemning Santos' remarks.
Then Chavez yesterday said he would not hesitate to start up Venezuela's Sukoi warplanes and tanks were there to be an attack on Venezuelan territory.
In Quito, Correa said his armed forces would repel any incursion by "irregulars" (FARC) or by "regulars" (Colombian armed forces). Chavez and Uribe reportedly spoke by phone on Saturday to try to cool things dowb,
So there it is. I suspect that Uribe will back down, but if not ... ???