BOGOTA, (Reuters) – Colombia has sent a copy of a video, in which a leftist rebel says the guerrillas supported the presidential campaign of Ecuadorean leader Rafael Correa, to the OAS and Interpol, the government said yesterday.
Correa says the video is a setup and has denied receiving any funds from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Friday’s release of the video, in which a top rebel chief says the FARC gave money to Correa’s campaign, has heightened tensions between the the Andean neighbors.
“Colombia has handed the material over to the Organization of American States (OAS) to analyze the situation and act according to its mandate,” Colombian presidential spokesman Cesar Velasquez told Reuters.
The OAS is a hemispheric pro-democracy body. Velasquez said a copy of the tape was also handed over to Interpol.
Ecuador cut off diplomatic ties with Colombia more than a year ago after the Colombian military bombed a FARC base on Ecuador’s side of the border in March 2008.
Colombia’s conservative leader, Alvaro Uribe, accuses Ecuador of not doing enough to help combat the FARC while Correa says Colombia is using the video to try to destabilize his progressive government.