Reply #2: I don't think so.

[bemildred]

I think this came from the hostaqe releases. It was an attempt to shift the debate back to terrorism and the drug war and that sort of thing instead of Chavez and FARC successfully negotiating and working to get hostages released. I think the possibility of Betancourt being freed might have been an element too.

Chavez has been pushing at Uribe and the US for some time, partly for domestic reasons, partly because that's who he is politically. This was an attempt to push back.

So far it appears to me that it is the usual Bushite ignorant folly, but it's far from over yet. I am glad to see that it looks less like war and more like an embargo. I don't think anyone has really thought over what happens if Ecuador and Venezuela decide to embargo Colombia. Maybe soon we will have a "Bogota Airlift".

It does seem clear that the rest of Latin America, although largely wishing it would go away, is unified behind the idea that what Colombia did is unacceptable, and they do not much care whether Uncle Sugar likes it or not.