The biggest threat in the region is not Colombia but Venezuela. Mr Chávez has recently veered towards outright support for the FARC. Colombia alleges that the captured laptops show that he gave the guerrillas $300m (and also that the FARC is seeking uranium for a 'dirty bomb).
Mr Chávez's mismanagement of Venezuela's oil boom has made him increasingly unpopular at home. His regime runs a risk of imploding. A cornered Mr Chávez might think of a border skirmish as the perfect distraction and as justification for more repression at home.
Even as they scold Mr Uribe, Brazil and other South American countries should warn Venezuela that it is destabilising the continent?and it is high time it stopped.
Read more (original article): economist.com