MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ecuador's Correa warns FARC and Colombian Gov.

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa warned Colombia's Revolutionary Armed Forces, FARC that any incursion into Ecuadorian territory would be considered an “act of war” and asked for a “helpful hand” from the Organization of American States, OAS, to put an end to the “disrepute campaign” launched by the Colombian government.

"Don't put a single foot onto Ecuadorian territory" Correa said on Thursday at the presidential palace in Quito. Ecuador's official policy has been to remain neutral in Colombia's decades of civil strife but last March a Colombian raid on a rebel camp inside Ecuador, killing about two dozen people including the group's No.2 leader Raul Reyes led Correa to sever diplomatic ties with President Alvaro Uribe's government. "We won't allow any regular or irregular foreign force to abuse Ecuadorian soil" said Correa. "If we find patrols, or FARC camps, on Ecuadorian ground, it will be considered an act of war".' Colombia claims that computers captured in the March raid revealed ties between the Correa administration and FARC. Earlier this week it revealed a video showing Reyes congratulating Correa on his electoral victory in late 2006. "The video was as meaningless as one of a drug trafficker congratulating Uribe would be" said Correa who recalled he first herd of Reyes when Uribe called him on March 1 to inform him of the raid. At the same time, Ecuador remains willing to cooperate to help secure the release of hostages held by the FARC, he added. "We demand the unconditional release of the hostages beginning with the Colombian-French national Ingrid Betancourt'' he said. "If we can act as brokers for the release, we will", he emphasized. Ecuador will also set up electronic surveillance equipment to monitor the border in a bid to reduce the toll on its own security forces, Correa said. "A large part of the population, above all in Amazonia on the Colombian and Ecuadorian sides, support the FARC because the Colombian and Ecuadorian states don't reach them, and the ones who provide jobs in drug cultivation, etc., are the FARC,'' Correa said. Development, rather than military action, is the best way to combat the rebels, he said. OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza is scheduled to meet Correa Friday in Quito to discuss confidence-building measures that could result in resumption of diplomatic relations between Ecuador and Colombia. During an official visit to Mexico last weekend, Correa recommended the creation of an organization of Latin American states to help resolve security disputes. The body should eventually include joint armed forces, Correa said.