The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Bogota

Venezuela and Ecuador moved their troops to their border with Colombia and engaged in a war of words as they found themselves Monday in tense standoff over Colombia's anti-guerrilla raid into Ecuador.

Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa said late Sunday he had ordered the deployment of troops to the northern border and an "immediate expulsion" of Colombian Ambassador Carlos Holguin as a result of Saturday's raid, in which Raul Reyes, the second-ranking commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was killed. Ecuador earlier recalled its own ambassador to Bogota and warned that Colombia's actions might result in "ultimate consequences."

Correa also canceled a visit to Cuba to deal with the crisis at home. From Caracas, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he was sending 10 army battalions equipped with tanks and fighter aircraft to his country's border with Colombia. Correa's initial reaction to the raid was relatively calm. But he admitted he had become angry when he learned the FARC rebels "were not killed in hot pursuit, but were bombed and massacred in their sleep."