Jingoism:

South America has had more than its share of border conflicts. Still, it is hard to believe that in the 21st century the democratically elected governments of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela would be talking about war. Colombia’s decision to send forces into Ecuador to kill a Colombian guerrilla commander was an infringement of Ecu-ador’s sovereignty — a sensitive issue anywhere, but especially in Latin America.

Ecuador and Colombia must settle their differences through diplomatic means. As a first step, Ecuador’s pre-sident, Rafael Correa, and Álvaro Uribe, the president of Colombia, should reject the Venezuelan leader’s meddling and manipulation. They should recognise that he is cynically, and dangerously, trying to use their dispute to revive his own flagging political fortunes.

Colombia’s government claims that during the raid, its troops captured a FARC computer that contained evidence that Chávez’s government had given $300 million to the guerrilla group. Colombia said files on the computer also indicated Correa’s government had been harbouring FARC members. For now, Correa and Uribe should cool their rhetoric and begin a serious discussion about how they can jointly secure their borders against the FARC. The more he meddles, the easier it is to believe that the charges against him are true. — The New York Times