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=C1lvaro Uribe tries to convince South America that the FARC is the real
threat

WHEN Colombian officials revealed on July 26th that three Swedish anti-tank
rocket launchers sold to Venezuela in 1988 had been found in a camp
belonging to the FARC guerrillas, they expected their neighbours to share
their outrage. Instead, the leaders of Brazil and Chile seemed to side with
Venezuela=B9s Hugo Ch=E1vez in expressing unease over a pending deal that would
give the United States use of several Colombian air and naval bases.
Frustrated by the reaction, =C1lvaro Uribe, Colombia=B9s president, cut short a
midyear holiday at one of his ranches for a lightning tour of seven South
American countries (including Brazil and Chile). His aim is to persuade the=
m
that the real security threat in South America comes from drug-financed
insurgents and their allies, not the United States.

The Colombian army found the anti-tank bazookas last year but Sweden only
recently confirmed that it had sold them to the Venezuelan army. Colombian
officials point out that the find seems to corroborate e-mails on computer
equipment belonging to Ra=FAl Reyes, a senior FARC leader killed when the
Colombian army bombed his camp just over the Ecuadorean border in March las=
t
year. In messages dated January 2007, Iv=E1n M=E1rquez, a guerrilla commander,
writes that he met three Venezuelan officials who promised him =B3bazookas=B2
and later says that he received =B385 millimetre anti-tank rockets=B2.

Mr Ch=E1vez dismissed the e-mails as fabricated. He has insisted that his
government does not protect the guerrillas. But the New York Times this wee=
k
reported that more recent intercepted FARC communications obtained by
unnamed intelligence sources pointed to continuing help from Venezuelan
officials in procuring weapons for the guerrillas.

As so often when thrown on the defensive, Mr Ch=E1vez went on the attack. He
recalled his ambassador in Bogot=E1=8Bfor the third time in 20 months. He
threatened to block all trade between the two countries. This totalled $7.3
billion last year, of which $6 billion was Colombian exports. Venezuela
relies on its neighbour for much of its food, as well as, believe it or not=
,
natural gas. This week he ordered a halt to some car imports and vowed to
find alternative suppliers for other Colombian products.

He also claimed that the bazookas had been stolen from a Venezuelan naval
base in 1995, though provided no proof. He said that the plan to give
American forces use of Colombian bases could unleash a war in South America=
,
and that he would buy =B3several battalions of Russian tanks=B2 in response. In
the past he has said that claims that he is helping the FARC are designed t=
o
justify a military attack on Venezuela.

Both American and Colombian officials dismiss such arguments as absurd. The=
y
have been talking about the base agreement since February and expect to sig=
n
it later this month. Colombia is offering the Americans facilities at
Palanquero, its main air-force base, and backup access to two others, to
replace an American base at Manta in Ecuador whose lease was not renewed by
Rafael Correa, Ecuador=B9s left-wing president. Manta was used by American
AWACS for the surveillance of drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific.

But the agreement will also formalise facilities for the American trainers
and surveillance planes that help Colombian forces in anti-drug actions
under Plan Colombia. This potentially involves giving the Americans the use
of parts of four further bases, two of them naval ports (see map). Colombia=
n
officials this week stressed that whereas Manta was an American base, they
are merely offering the Americans facilities at Colombian bases. The
agreement would not involve increasing the number of American personnel in
the country (capped by law at 800 troops and 600 civilian contractors,
although only 250 are currently there). Americans will not be allowed to
engage in combat or launch operations from Colombia against a third country=
,
they insist. =B3It=B9s a co-operation agreement against drug trafficking,
terrorism and other crimes,=B2 Jaime Berm=FAdez, Colombia=B9s foreign minister,
said.

But diplomacy and public relations are not Colombian strong points. Talk of
half-a-dozen American bases leaked into the Colombian media and alarmed
several South American governments. Celso Amorim, Brazil=B9s foreign minister=
,
said his country was worried about a strong American military presence
=B3whose aim and capability seems to go well beyond what might be needed
inside Colombia=B2. Chile=B9s President Michelle Bachelet called for the issue
to be discussed at a meeting next week of the fledgling Union of South
American Nations in Ecuador, whose president cut ties with Colombia after
the raid on Reyes=B9 camp. Apparently fearing a diplomatic ambush, Mr Uribe
said he would not attend, and set off on his regional tour.

Tensions in the northern Andes will persist. Mr Correa is angry at the
recent leak of a captured video in which a FARC leader refers to a donation
to his election campaign. Ecuador countered by releasing what purports to b=
e
Reyes=B9s diary, which implicates disgraced former aides of Mr Correa in
accepting FARC money but not the president himself. (Colombia reckons the
document is fabricated.) Until it gets active co-operation from all its
neighbours in fighting the FARC and other drug traffickers, Colombia will
conclude that it must rely on American support.