
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ordered on Sunday the militarization of the border with Colombia and the closing of Venezuela's embassy in Bogotá a day after Colombian troops in an incursion in Ecuadorian territory killed FARC rebel group number 2, an action he described as a cowardly murder.
The killing of a Colombian guerrilla leader by Colombian forces in Ecuadorian territory and the alleged discovery of documents linking the rebel group with the governments of Ecuador and Venezuela has pushed South America closer to an armed conflict.

The Rio Group of Latinamerican countries created in the eighties to help pacify and stabilize Central America and which had lately fallen into obscurity, could play a crucial role in the Colombia-Ecuador-Venezuela conflict when it meets this week in Santo Domingo.

Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez on the third anniversary of his administration completed the reshuffling of the cabinet in preparation for the 2009 electoral year.
The number 2 commander of Colombian guerrillas Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia has been killed in combat Saturday, the government said, describing the action as the biggest blow so far to FARC.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has warned Colombia that a strike against the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces, (FARC), rebel group inside Venezuela like that in Ecuador on Saturday could start a war.
Opposition leaders in Bolivia warned of a fractured country and accused President Evo Morales of leading Bolivia in the footsteps of Yugoslavia while calling for civil resistance in those provinces that openly reject the constitutional reforms to be voted next May.

The Malvinas war next of kin visit to the Falkland Islands for the inauguration of the monument at the Argentine cemetery has been confirmed by the main authorities in Argentina and the Falklands. The discussion now is whether the 600 to 800 visitors will arrive in the Falklands by air of by sea.

The busy international agenda for Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and her Foreign Affaire minister Alejandro Foxley includes hosting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Italian president Giorgio Napolitano in March and visiting Great Britain in April.

The Prince of Wales and Prince William will greet Prince Harry on his return from Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence confirmed.