Word: farce
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...outfoxing authorities while supplying weapons to the most deadly conflicts around the globe, the former Soviet Air Force pilot let his guard down just as a complex web of international police agencies were closing in on him. The potential buyers said they represented the leftist Colombian rebel group FARC - but they turned out to be part of a U.S.-led sting operation that had lured him out of his Russian refuge and tracked him through South America, Europe and Asia. On Thursday, he was finally arrested in Bangkok, Thailand...
...Colombia, still embroiled in a four-decade-old civil war over its deep social inequalities, argues that it wouldn't have had to violate Ecuador's border if Correa, like Chavez, hadn't been harboring FARC militants in his territory. The FARC "is a drug cartel that kills civilians," Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos said in a TIME interview last month. "It's like al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hizballah - where are we supposed to draw the line for our security...
...Says Colombian Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo, himself a FARC hostage for six years before escaping in 2006, "If the FARC can constantly take refuge outside Colombia, it becomes a threat to regional stability...
...secret the FARC often hides out in Ecuador as well as Venezuela; but Correa insists his military has driven 47 guerrilla camps out of the country - and aides ask why, if Ecuador is really aiding the FARC, did Washington just extend the country's eligibility in the Andean Trade Preference Act, which requires a commitment to drug interdiction. Either way, if the hemisphere excuses the Colombian raid, it would set a precedent that "endangers any one of our countries," said Correa while meeting in Brazil with President Lula before going to Caracas Wednesday to huddle with Chavez...
...Such are the passions that Insulza and the OAS are tasked with soothing. An added conundrum is the fact that before last weekend, there was some hope that the FARC, with Chavez as a mediator, might continue releasing some of its more than 700 hostages, including three U.S. defense contractors held in the Colombian jungle since 2003. That effort, which includes Ecuador and France (the most famous hostage is former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, a dual Colombian-French citizen), has likely been brought to a halt by last weekend's events. This Friday, Chavez, Uribe and Correa...