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Fri Mar 14, 5:02 PM ET

Correa to Bush: send us your troops or

'shut up'
QUITO (AFP) - Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa told US
President George W. Bush on Friday to either send US
troops to the border with Colombia or "shut up," in
response to criticism that Ecuador harbors Colombian
rebels.
"Mr Bush, bring over your soldiers, let your soldiers be
the ones who get killed at the southern border with
Colombia," Correa said two weeks after Bogota raided a
Colombian rebel camp inside Ecuador killing a top rebel
leader.
"Lets see if American citizens will accept such a
tremendous barbarity. Otherwise, shut up and try to
understand what's happening in Latin America," the
Ecuadoran leader added.
Ecuadorean president Rafael
Correa's challenge followed implied criticism of Ecuador Correa gives an interview to AFP
by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, when she on March 11, 2008
said Thursday during a visit to Brazil that "responsible
states" should not let their territory be used by "terrorists."
The leaders of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela -- which backed Quito in its week-
long border row that nearly degenerated into military conflict -- defused the crisis
shaking hands at a Rio Group summit a week ago in Santo Domingo.
Colombia apologized for the March 1 raid, in which 25 people were killed, but
Ecuador has yet to resume diplomatic relations with Bogota.
Colombia alleges that computer files found at the raided rebel camp yielded
documents showing close links between Ecuador, Venezuela and the leftist
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which the US and Europe consider a
terrorist group.
Bush on Wednesday accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of backing
"terrorists" in neighboring Colombia.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday said Bush was clutching at straws in his
criticism of Venezuela: "The head of the empire is getting desperate."
As to the possibility Venezuela may be included in a US list of states that sponsor
terrorism, for its alleged links to the FARC, Chavez was a little more blunt: "Let them
make that list and then stuff it in their ... pocket."
Correa also challenged Spain to put its troops in harm's way at the border, after
Madrid newspaper El Pais printed allegations the Ecuadoran government was mixed
up with FARC rebels.
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"I invite Spain, the country of origin of that newspaper El Pais, to come here and
deploy its soldiers at the southern border with Colombia.
"You don't know how grateful we would be, how much trouble you'd save us."
Spain also lists the FARC as a terrorist group.
Correa also reiterated his proposal that a multinational force monitor the 600
kilometer (370 miles) Ecuador-Colombia border, which the Washington-based
Organization of American States has ruled out due to the rugged terrain.