MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

CK calls for peace and confirms planned Venezuela trip

CK will be meeting with Pte. Chavez tomorrow

Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner called on all Latinamerican countries to ratify their “commitment to peace” in the eve of her long planned Wednesday trip to Venezuela, which together with Ecuador have militarized their borders following an incursion by Colombian forces in Ecuadorian territory to kill a FARC rebel leader.

Mrs. Kirchner also called for the liberation of former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt which has been a hostage of the FARC rebels for the last six years and is said to be in an extremely deteriorated health condition. The Argentine president that had long scheduled the summit with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is expected to sign a broad agreement on several fields but basically centered in the exchange of food for energy. Venezuela exposed to the Chavez populist nationalization process of farms and industry is desperately short of basic food and Argentina which has had energy prices virtually frozen since the 2002 meltdown faces severe shortages of gas and electricity, particularly in peak months of winter and summer. The Agreement for Cooperation in the field of Food Sovereignty and Security provides for the supply of 300 Argentine products. However the scenario now is completely different since Chavez has threatened Colombia with war, Ecuador is demanding more than an apology, and South American leaders are desperately trying to avoid taking sides in a dispute involving sensitive issues such as terrorism, political influence in the region, populism and different ways of taking advantage of the "emerging countries hour", as Mrs. Kirchner had defined the current world situation. "There are no changes to the presidential trip to Caracas on Wednesday", said Casa Rosada sources quoted by the Buenos Aires press. Mrs. Kirchner is scheduled to fly to Venezuela in the afternoon and sign the food for energy package on Thursday with President Chavez. From there she travels to the Dominican Republic for a summit of the Rio Group which until Monday had confirmed the visit of most regional presidents, including Colombia's Alvaro Uribe and Mr. Chavez. However Argentine analysts don't discard last minute changes given the rapidly escalating military tension and accusations between the three countries involved. Colombia based on the alleged information found in the killed FARC leader lap tops recovered in the raid is formally accusing President Chavez of genocide for "his financial and political support of the FARC terrorists". Ecuador in spite of Colombia's repeated apologies insists in a formal multilateral condemnation of Colombia, and together with Venezuela has expelled Colombian diplomats from their countries. Argentine government officials revealed that Mrs. Kirchner talked to Chile's Michelle Bachelet and Brazil's Lula da Silva, among others, trying to cool the situation and in search of a regional diplomatic stance to find a solution. Apparently following on Brazil's suggestion, the conflict should not leave the region, should avoid the UN and most important keep down the incidence of United States. The Brazilian president foreign affairs advisor Marcos Aurelio said that the "best way" to solve the crisis is in a "South American environment" and anticipated Brasilia would seek support from Argentina and Chile to join the group of countries interested in "a maximum reduction of tension", and leaving aside "partners" from outside the region. The Argentine president trip therefore could be interpreted as a signal that "things have not derailed" plus carrying a "de-compression message" to President Chavez, said Casa Rosada sources. The Argentine official position so far has been to reject the violation of Ecuadorian sovereignty. Argentina a strong sponsor of Venezuelan incorporation to Mercosur considers the Chavez regime a "strategic ally". The Kirchners have a good personal affinity with President Chavez and with Ecuadorian leader Rafael Correa but not so much with Colombia's Uribe, Washington's main ally in the region. Kirchner suffered a "frustrated" hostages' release incursion last December when FARC delayed the operation, and he had to return to his beloved Santa Cruz empty handed. FARC had promised to release four hostages but actually had only three: the fourth a child had been given to an orphanage in Bogotá two years before. Some Kirchner close members of Congress publicly declared in Buenos Aires that "Uribe is leading us to a genocide" and that the "Ecuador invasion has been financed and planned by United States", in its attempt "to control the progressive (populist) countries of the region". But the plain fact is that Mrs. Kirchner is leaving for Caracas ten days after a summit in Buenos Aires with Brazil's Lula da Silva and Bolivia's Evo Morales which confirmed there is no immediate or short term solution to the energy shortage. "Venezuela is a vital part of Argentina's energy equation" underlines President Cristina Kirchner every time she is accused of compromising Argentina having too close relations with the Chavez administration.