Tension in Colombia

As you all probably know already, on Saturday the Colombian military killed a high-ranking FARC official just 1 mile inside the border with Ecuador. This has caused heightened tension in the region. Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, and Rafael Correa, the president of Ecuador, have sent thousands of troops to the Venezuelan and Ecuadorian borders with Colombia in an effort to prevent another occurrence from happening in their countries. Chavez states that Colombia violated the sovereignty of Ecuador by using military tactics inside the country without first consulting the Ecuadorian government. Neither Venezuela nor Ecuador have very good control of their borders with Colombia, and as a result there is a lot of movement of FARC forces back and forth over the borders (the FARC usually cross into Venezuela or Ecuador to rest or practice or to simply escape the Colombian military).

Both Ecuador and Venezuela have recalled their ambassadors from Bogotá, with the Venezuelan embassy in Bogotá being completely shut down. Chavez said that if a similar occurrence happens in his country, Venezuela will declare war on Colombia.

I'd like you all to know that I DON'T LIVE ANYWHERE NEAR THE VENEZUELAN OR ECUADORIAN BORDERS. There has been tension between Colombia and Venezuela for years, and war is highly unlikely between the two countries. But if anything does happen, Rotary has a policy to withdraw all scholars studying in any areas considered too dangerous. Rotary keeps a close eye on the political situations in the countries where they have scholars, and if this situation spirals out of control I would have no say in whether I can stay or not; I would be immediately evacuated. Rotary had to evacuate their scholars in Israel and Lebanon a couple of years ago when war broke out in that region, so they know what they're doing.

Ooooh such excitement!